A Life Worth Living For
by theothersideoftherainbow
Summary: Clary is abused by her father Valentine. Johnathan is well moved out and he is living somewhere else attending college, not wanting to deal with Valentine's abusive ways. Since it feels like Clary has no one, she resolves herself to self-mutilation. When Clary feels like she has no other options, she just wants to end her life. When she's at her last straw, Jace walks into her life
1. Chapter 1

**Hello My Fellow Readers! **

**I hope that you enjoy this story. I've been thinking about writing a story for TMI for awhile and I am glad that I did. I am hoping that you as my readers will appreciate this story and will go on an emotional ride along with the characters! Please review and let me know what you think! Thank you for reading this story!**

**Love,**

**Lee**

**I DO NOT OWN TMI**

* * *

"Clarissa! Get your ass down here this instant!" Valentine shouted from downstairs. Clary nearly knocked over her paints when she heard her father's booming voice. Dread consumed her as if a bucket full of ice water was dumped on her. She hastily placed her supplies on her stool that she was previously sitting on and made her way out of her room to the downstairs. When she walked into the living room, Valentine was pacing back and forth. His hands were behind his back. His lean form was hunched over as his shoulders were tense with anger. Valentine's white hair was messy and ragged. His clothes didn't look any better. Clary could tell that her father had a little more than a few drinks that night. She also knew what was coming.

Clary silently stood in the doorway of the living room as she watched her father pace the length of the room and muttering non sense under his breath. Clary was to terrified to say anything as she continued to watch. With a few more paces, Valentine abruptly stopped and looked at her. His piercing black eyes were glaring at her. They glare was murderous. It felt like his dark gaze was peering into her soul. Clary involuntarily flinched. She was dreading as to what was coming next.

With a few strides, Valentine reached Clary and grabbed her by the wrists and slammed her up against the wall with all of his might. Clary heard the crack of her head smacking into the wall before she felt the searing pain that soon followed. She could see stars in the line of her vision. Valentine's snarling face was right in front of her as he started to yell at her.

"This is all your fucking fault! You are the reason why she left me! How can you stand yourself knowing that you are the reason why your mother left!" He pulled Clary forward once more and shoved her against the wall. Tears started to flow as Clary crumpled to the floor. Valentine started to kick her as she slumped to the ground, curling up into the fetal position. Each kick felt like another whole was being punched into her heart.

After what felt like hours, Valentine finally grew tired of abusing his daughter. "Get up and get out of my sight! You filthy bitch." Valentine growled as he made his way to his room. He staggered a little before he made it. He slammed his bedroom door as soon as he walked in. Clary flinched at the loud slam. Slowly, Clary picked herself off of the hardwood floor and painfully made her way back up the stairs. Her gorgeous, long, curly red hair that was previously in a pony tail, was falling out of its holder as she made the effort of walking up the treacherous stairs. Her whole body was protesting by the time she made it to the landing.

When she reached her room she collapsed onto the middle of her bed and curled up into a ball as more tears streamed down her face. She closed her eyes as the world started to spin.

Life wasn't always this way for Clarissa Morgenstern. Her parents were together and happy as could be. Clary and her brother Johnathan were thicker than thieves. They were a happy family. Always doing family things whenever they could. But things changed a few years back when Valentine fell off the deep end. Something happened at his work that didn't make him happy and he snapped. Clary's mother- Jocelyn- tried to be patient with Valentine, but he seemed to get worse with every passing day. He would snap and lash out if things were not going his way. After a couple of months of his irrational behavior, Jocelyn upped and left without letting him know, taking Jonathan and Clary with her. Valentine threw a huge fit and demanded to have his children back. When Valentine and Jocelyn went through the divorce process, Valentine somehow convinced the judge that Jocelyn was not a fit mother and that he should have full custody of his children. Jocelyn was devastated when her children were taken away from her and ever since then, she had no way of contacting them. Valentine moved half way across the country just to make sure that there was no possible way that there wasn't any type of connection.

That happened six years ago. The abuse shortly started after the move to New York. Now Clary is by herself. Johnathan graduated two years ago and he hasn't contacted Clary at all since he moved out and started college. Which her broke her heart. Clary felt like she was abandoned by her brother. She felt like everything was spinning out of control. The abuse started to get worse when Clary entered her Junior year of high school and so had Valentine's drinking problem. He would come home almost every other night, drunk beyond all belief and beat on her until he got bored or when his anger died off.

Clary's tears started to dry up as exhaustion dawned upon her. With every ragged breath she took, it felt like something was grinding into her lungs. She welcomed the searing pain so she didn't have to deal with the numbness that soon followed the abuse. Her eyes started to droop as sleep started to take over her sore, broken body.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello My Fellow Readers!  
**

**This is extremely rare that I post twice in one week, let alone in less than twenty-four hours! I hope that you guys have enjoyed the first chapter! I will try my hardest to post once a week. Here is the second chapter! Please review and let me know what you think!**

**Love,**

**Lee**

**I DO NOT OWN TMI**

* * *

"Earth to Clary," Simon said as he waved his hand in front of her face. Clary blinked and focused on her friend who was sitting across from her at the lunch table. His glasses were fall down the bridge of his nose. He hastily pushed them back into place. Simon's brown eyes were peering into Clary's emerald ones as he looked at her questioningly.

"What?" Clary asked as she brought her arms in front of her chest. She never liked the interrogating that Simon always did whenever she zoned out.

"You were like, a million miles away. What's on your mind?" Simon dug his fork into an eggplant salad that he packed that day. Clary watched him pick at his food as she though of a response to tell Simon. She couldn't tell him about what her father does to her. That morning he slapped her across the face with such force that she saw stars. The bruise was instant and she had to cover it up with make-up She could still feel the bruise on her cheek forming. After every time she bit into her sandwich. She only poked at her food.

"Nothing really. Just thinking about that paper that was assigned in Mr. Garroway's class," Clary lied. She used to hate lying, couldn't stand the thought of it. Since Valentine started having his way with Clary, she had to constantly lie and tell people that she was okay.

Simon brought the fork to his mouth and he shoved the leafy greens into his mouth. He gazed at Clary above the top of his glasses as he thoughtfully chewed on his salad. Clary knew that Simon knew she was lying but wasn't going to press the issue. They both sat in comfortable silence as Simon continued to eat and Clary zoned out once again. She had no idea as to why Valentine had hit her that morning. She did her daily routine and didn't say a word to her father. Out of the blue when Clary was packing her lunch, she saw a hand out of the corner of her eye coming toward her face and then Valentine was standing in front of her with a snarl on his face. Clary refused to look him in the eyes as he started sputtering about how she was the devil and how everything that went wrong in the world was her fault.

Clary leaned back into the chair and winced. "_Valentine must of broken a rib," _Clary thought as she tried to make herself comfortable through the piercing pain in her ribs and lower abdomen. When she looked this morning in the bathroom mirror, her stomach was practically black and blue from the assault that Valentine did the night before. Clary thanked God that she didn't have to take a gym class her Senior year. Otherwise she didn't know what she would have done.

Simon soon finished off his salad and was starting to get up from his seat and Clary followed pursuit. Just as soon as she stood up and was about to turn, someone ran into her. She felt food being spilled on the front of her clothes and she soon heard the tray hit the ground. She felt the sharp stab of pain run through her rib cage as she held back tears. She looked down at her now soiled long sleeved navy blue shirt and jeans as that days lunch special was decorating her clothes.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Simon shouted as he raced around the table to see if Clary was all right.

"She was the one who ran into me." The dark haired boy bent down to pick up the tray. The lunch room became eerily quite as the students watch the scene before them.

Clary looked up, away from her clothes to find that she was looking at a t-shirt clad chest starring back at her. Clary craned her neck to look up. Her emerald eyes were met with the gold gaze of Jace Wayland. She internally cringed. The "bad"boy of the school was standing right in front of her, looking at her curiously. His blonde hair was messy as ever. He was wearing a gray v-neck t-shirt adorned with his signature black leather jacket. His black jeans fit him in all the right places and he was tapping his right boot out of annoyance.

The boy who spilled his lunch on Clary, stood back up and glared at her. It was non other than Jace's side kick. Alec Lightwood. His piercing blue eyes only portrayed rage. His breathing was erratic. Clary knew at that point that it wasn't Valentine that would be the death of her, it would Alec. Right there and then in the high school cafeteria. Clary prayed that it would be swift.

Clary looked away from Jace as she looked down at the now messy floor. Simon was besides Clary as he checked out the damage that was done to her clothes, making sure that she was okay. "I'm sorry," she mumbled as she stood awkwardly in front of the boys.

"Sorry? That's all you have to say?!" Alec raged. His complexion was turning red as his anger got the best of him. Clary stood her ground as she anticipated a blow from Alec. Nothing came. Clary looked away from the floor to see that Alec's fists were at his sides. He would clench them and un-clench them. He was still glaring at Clary.

"You were the idiot that ran into her!" Simon shouted in Clary's defense. This only caused Alec to get even angrier. Before he could retort, Jace stepped in.

"Alec, that's enough. We'll just go get another lunch. Come on." With that, Jace grabbed Alec by the arm and steered him in the other direction. Clary watched as the blonde and black haired boys made their way to the lunch line.

Clary let out a breath that she didn't realize that she was holding. She peered down at her clothes again and groaned. _"This is just perfect."_

"We need to get you out of here." Simon told her as he grabbed her by the elbow and steered her out of the cafeteria. The other students were still starring as Simon and Clary made their way out. Once they reached the hallways and were heading to the doors that led to the parking lot, Clary stopped walking, causing Simon to stumble.

"Where are we going?" She demanded.

"I'm taking you home so you can change out of those clothes." Simon replied. Clary shook her head. She knew that if Valentine found out that she missed class, the beatings would continue longer than usual.

"I can't go home Simon. If my father found out that I missed a class, he would skin me alive!" _Literally._

Simon stood in front of her as he pondered. He knew that Clary couldn't continue school for the rest of the day in the state that she was also knew that Valentine would be upset that Clary missed class.

"Clary, you only have one class left and then you're done for the rest of the day. What could it hurt that you missed one class?" Simon asked as he tugged on Clary's arm. She was torn. Clary wanted to change into different clothes badly, but she didn't want to suffer a brutal beating tonight.

"Simon, I can't." Clary pleaded. She couldn't stand the thought of getting into trouble. Simon sighed. He let go of her arm and unzipped his hoodie and handed it to her.

"Just clean it afterwards, okay?" Clary smiled. She put the hoodie and and zipped it up. The arms were ten times to long and the torso was ten time to big. But she didn't care. She was happy that the mess that was on her shirt was covered. Simon smiled back at her and wrapped an arm loosely around her shoulders as he turned her around and they made there way to class.

* * *

Both Simon and Clary were early to there classes. They sat on the floor and talked about the new name of Simon's band. This week it was Riot Pit. The ridiculous names that Simon and his band mates came up with always made Clary laugh.

Clary pulled her hair out of the pony tail holder and shook it out. Her hair tumbled passed her shoulders and down to her waist. Although she was in a good mood, her head was pounding and keeping her hair up was giving her a headache.

Simon reached out and played with a stray curl. "I like it when your hair is down." He whispered. Clary blushed. She wasn't used to Simon complimenting her.

"Um, thanks." Simon let the curl go and he leaned back against the wall. The rest of the time that they were waiting for the bell to ring, they were silent. Clary laid her head back against the wall as she closed her eyes.

Soon after the bell rung and students started to file out of the classrooms. Simon and Clary both got up from the floor and headed into the art class. This was Clary's favorite class of the day. It was the one class that she could be who she was and let everything go. Right away, Clary walked over to her assigned easel and started to get her supplies out. Clary soon lost herself in the brush strokes of her painting as the self-loathing, anxiety, and anger flowed from her fingers through her brush and onto the canvas. When the final bell of the day rung, Clary stayed behind to finish touching up her latest creation.

After signing her name, Clary stood up from her stool and looked at the master piece before her. She painted a self portrait of herself to almost seemed abstract. To someone else, the painting would of been beautiful but to Clary, it was her reality.

With a heavy sigh, Clary started to clean up her brushes. The teacher was long gone by then, but she trusted Clary enough to clean up and lock the door on her way out. Simon was long gone at this point. He told her that he had to leave for band practice or something among those lines. In the midst of cleaning her brushes, she heard someone clear their throat. Clary jumped in surprise, causing her to plash herself with water and soap as she saw Jace leaning up against the door frame. What was with him and causing her to spill stuff? His leather clad arms were crossed in front of his broad chest. He had the look that he had earlier when him and Clary crossed paths in the cafeteria. Curiosity. Clary blushed and hurriedly shut off the water and started to put the brushes back in the brush bucket. She turned her back away from him and quickly covered her painting but it was too late.

"That's a nice painting." Jace commented. Clary cringed. She was hoping that he didn't see it. Clary still had her back to him as she replied.

"Ah, thanks?" She placed a piece of wax paper over the painting and placed it into her art cubby. She turned around to see that he was still there. This time when she looked at him, there was smirk that replaced the curiosity. His gold eyes were dancing with mischief. This made Clary uncomfortable. A deep blush soon rose into her cheeks.

"Can I help you with something?" Clary asked defensively. She didn't like the feeling that she had around him. It made her feel uneasy. Jace's smirk grew.

"I was just curious as to who was still in the art room. I mean, detention just got out."

Clary could feel her face pale. It was already five? Valentine would be home in a half an hour. "Oh, shit." Clary mumbled. She raced toward the door and turned off the lights and locked the door. She pushed Jace out of the way as she shut the door. This was a mistake. She felt electricity rush up through her arm as their hands brushed. Clary instinctively pulled away from Jace. Her heart was beating erratically as she tried to make her way passed Jace without touching him again.

Today was not on her side. When she passed Jace, he reached out and grabbed her upper arm. Which triggered pain. There was tons of bruises on her upper arms that were fading from two weeks ago but they still hurt never-the-less.  
"Hey, what's wrong?" Jace asked. In response, Clary let out a small yelp in pain and pulled her arm out of his grip and raced down the hallway toward her own personal hell.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello My Fellow Readers,**

**I am amazed at the fact that I have as many follows and reviews that I have. Thank you all so much! It makes my day every time I open my email to see that I have either a new follower or a new review! Keep them coming please! Thank you all so much and I hope that you all enjoy this next chapter and that you all have a wonderful day/night!**

**With Much Love,**

**Lee**

**I DO NOT OWN TMI**

* * *

It felt like Clary's heart stopped when she pulled into her drive way. Valentine was home thirty minutes early from work. She parked her car right behind Valentine's and she killed the engine. She couldn't believe that she spent that much time after school. She was usually cautious about being home on time and before Valentine at that. She contemplated about going into the house and just backing out of the drive way.

With a heavy sigh, she got out of the car and made her way to the door.

* * *

Jace was sitting at Taki's Diner with an untouched burger and fries sitting in front of him. Alec and Isabelle sat on the other side of him in the booth. Jace was pondering about Clary. Yeah, he's seen her from afar. He was always intrigued with the little red head. She seemed so shy for someone that was absolutely beautiful. He was stunned earlier that day when both Clary and Alec collided. She looked like she was going to cry. Alec was completely beside himself. There was a part of Jace that wanted to punch Alec for being such a dick, but he held back. Jace didn't want any conflict with his brother. He was also thinking about when he saw the art room was still opened when detention got out. Usually Mrs. Penhallow was gone before five thirty rolled around. And to his surprise, he saw Clary putting her supplies away when we walked passed the door. He stopped in her tracks and walked back to stand in the doorway.

Jace watched her as she cleaned the paint brushes with her small dainty hands. Jace smiled a little when he saw that she was wearing a black hoodie over the shirt that Alec dumped his lunch on. Her hair was also flowing ever so gently down her back to her waist. He would have done anything at that moment to run his rough, calloused hands through her soft, curly red locks. Jace chided himself for having such thoughts. He knew that girls like Clary would never would go for a guy like him, but there was a part of him that was wishing that she would some day be his.

Clary was so oblivious as to Jace watching her clean her paint brushes. Being the cocky person that he was, he cleared his throat. It made him smile a little more when he saw her jump, splashing water all over the hoodie. Her piercing emerald eyes met his and she froze. She looked so beautiful with the blush rushing to her cheeks. He longingly wanted to cup her cheek.

Clary turned the water off in the sink and put the brushes that she used back into the bucket. Jace watched her rushing toward her painting. He glanced at the painting before she covered it with the was paper.

"That's a nice painting," He commented. His smile turned into a smirk. Jace knew that he made Clary feel uncomfortable. She awkwardly thanked Jace as she covered her art piece and placed it in her art cubby. She turned around to see that Jace was still looking at her.

"Can I help you with something?" She asked. This only caused Jace's smirk to grow. He gave her his explanation and he watched as she became pale and muttered something that he didn't quit catch. She rushed toward to the door and quickly shut the lights off and locked the door. Their hands brushed and they felt the electricity that sparked between them. Clary flinched away from him and tried to get past him again. Jace reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Jace asked. Clary's only reply was a yelp as she pulled her arm out of his grip and made a dash for it, leaving Jace standing alone in the hallway. He watched in amazement as Clary made her way to the doors. "_Am I really that bad?"_ Jace thought to himself. He shook his head and headed toward the doors himself.

"Jace, what the hell man? You not hungry or what?" Alec asked as Jace was pulled out of his memories. Both Alec and Isabelle were looking at him curiosity. This was out of the norm for Jace. He would eat anything to pretty much everything in any given time.

"Not really." Jace replied. He sprawled himself out in the booth with his long muscular arms resting on the table and the back of the booth. Isabelle looked at him as if he was sprouting antlers as she placed her fork on the table.

"What's wrong with you? Did a girl turn you down?" Isabelle asked with scorn. Jace glared at her.

"Matter of fact, no. I got head before I came here." Jace said with a smirk. Isabelle scoffed and picked her fork back up as she angrily stabbed at her food.

"Then what's the matter?" Alec pushed.

Jace sighed in frustration. "Can we just let it go?" To make them stop the questioning, Jace popped a fry into his mouth as his thoughts continued to think about the cute little red-head.

* * *

That night, Clary was looking into the bathroom mirror. There was no tears after the beating she received that night. Just emptiness. Her eyes were hollow as she starred at her reflection . Clary could feel new bruises forming on top of the old one on her abdomen. Her scalp hurt from being dragged from the kitchen into living room to where she was thrown into coffee table. Clary shuttered as she remembered her back hitting the legs of the table. Her spine was sore and it was hard for her to move.

Clary turned on the sink in the bathroom and made sure that the water was cold. She looked behind her double check that the door was closed. After checking, she opened the mirror that held a medicine cabinet behind it. With a little rummaging around, Clary found what she was looking for. With an anxious grip, Clary picked up the razor. She could feel the cold bit of the metal as she pricked her finger. She welcomed the sting that soon followed. With quick movements, Clary pulled up her sleeve of her right arm and stuck her arm under the faucet. Slowly, she brought the razor's sharp edge down the length of her arm. Clary sighed at the bite of the razor. The euphoria was watched as her blood mixed with the water that was coming out of the faucet as it ran down the drain. Clary smiled. With another swipe at her wrist, Clary lost herself in a world of no regret and no abusive fathers.

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**I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello My Fellow Readers!**

**How is everyone this week? I cannot wait until it is over! There is too many things going on that I can****'t wait to go home this weekend! I really do hope that you guys are enjoying the story so far. I know I keep on saying that I will not posting twice a week, but I get bored fairly easy. Haha. Well here is another chapter! Enjoy!**

**Love,  
**

**Lee**

**I DO NOT OWN TMI**

Clary dreaded getting out of bed the next morning. Her body ached. When she would toss and turn in the night, her spine would protest. She finally gave up on sleep and laid on her side and looked through her window. She watched the night sky turn into twilight and then soon followed by dawn. She thought about the peculiar blonde haired boy who stood in the doorway of the art room yesterday. She was confused as to why Jace was interested in what was wrong with her.

With a heavy sigh, Clary sat up. Her body cried out in pain. She held in a cry as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Clary carefully stood up and made her way down the stairs. For once, luck was on her side. Valentine left for work early that morning. He had a note laying on the counter top. It said:

_Clary,_

_Left for work early. I expect you to be home before I am. _

_-Valentine_

That's how he always signed his notes. No "Love dad" or "have a good day." Nothing of the sorts. Clary sighed in relief as she sat down on the stool by the counter. Maybe today wasn't going to be as bad as she thought it would be.

When Clary pulled into Idris High School parking lot, she spotted Simon right away. He was waiting for her by the front doors. He looked geeky as ever. He wore a Star Wars t-shirt accompanied with baggy jeans and a pair of Converse. His hair was messy as usual and his glasses were crooked once again. Clary smiled a little as she got out of the car. Without Simon, Clary wouldn't know where she would be today. He was her best friend. Always sticking up for her and just being there whenever she needed it. Simon was her light at the end of the tunnel. But she knew that Valentine hated the fact that Clary hung out with Simon. So she only spent time with him at school. It was one of her many secrets.

"Hey Clary!" Simon said as she made her way toward him. Clary simply smiled as she reached Simon's side. "What's up Si?"

Simon smiled back at her. "Nothing much, just waiting for you. You're so slow," he whined. Clary cringed internally. She knew that she was walking slower than normal due to her injuries but she still kept the smile on her face. The sting of the new cuts that she placed on her wrists this morning were still burning with irritation. The sting made Clary feel more alive and better than she has in weeks. She smiled a little as she tugged her long sleeved shirt over her hands.

Simon noticed the small movement and frowned a little. "You cold?" Clary stiffened a little.

"A little." It wasn't entirely a lie. It was a brisk cool spring morning. Both Simon and Clary had a few weeks of school left until graduation and at that point, Clary's heart was dead set on leaving her father to find her mother. Where ever she was.

Simon sighed in disappointment as he slid off his jacket and handed it to her. She started to protest when he cut her off. "Just take the damn jacket Clary." Clary simply nodded and took the jacket. She handed Simon her backpack and slipped on the jacket. It was warm from Simon's body heat. Simon handed her backpack without a word.

"Thanks," Clary said as her good mood was slowly slipping. Simon grunted in response. They were both quiet as they made their way down the hallways. As soon as Clary's first class came into view, Simon departed with only a wave. Clary frowned as she walked into her AP English class. She didn't quit understand why Simon was upset with her. She walked to her desk which was in the front of the classroom. She pulled her sketchbook and some pencils out of her bag and began to doodle as she waited for class to start.

It must of been only a few minutes when she heard someone clear their throat, it was irritatingly familiar. Clary moved her eyes away from her sketch to meet a pair of gold ones. Jace was standing in front of her desk. His infamous smirk was placed onto his gorgeous face. He never seemed to change. He was essentially wearing what her wore yesterday but with a dark teal blue v-neck. His hair was wild and messy as ever. Clary only starred as she covered her drawing with her arms.

"What are you drawing?" He asked with mischief. Clary's eyes narrowed. She had a feeling that he was only there to mock her and that's all she needed to make the day better. Not.

"What's it to you?" Clary spat back. She had not patient today. _What is with him? Why can't he leave me alone? _She thought to herself. Instead of answering her question, he came back with another one.

"Why did you take off like that yesterday? Am I really that bad of a person?"

Clary scoffed at this and rolled her eyes. She did not feel like telling Jace her life situation at home. This spiked Jace's irritation as he glared back at the little red head that sat in front of him. He didn't understand as to why he was talking to her, but something possessed him to do it. He liked the fact that she was feisty as she held her ground.

"I don't think that's any of your concern," She spoke coldly. Jace was silent for a moment. He smirked, accepting the challenge. With a swift movements, he sat down in the desk next to her and his smirk turned smug. Clary sighed in frustration as she looked away from him and continued to sketch. But ignoring him wasn't going to work as he continued to talk to her.

"So what's up with you and that nerd Simon? Are you guys..like together or what?"

"No, we're not," Clary snapped. She was still looking at she sketch but she wasn't drawing anymore. She clenched her pencil as the anxiety started to flow threw her. She hated it when people started to ask to many questions about her. The earning for her razor was becoming unbearable. Her cheeks started to flush with color as Jace started to ask more personal questions about her home life. With that, more color in her cheeks started to rise. She tried to ignore him as best as she could until he reached out and touched her neck. She flinched away from him.

"Don't touch me!" Clary spat. She refused to look at him.

"Who did that to you?" Jace asked. Clary forgot about the fading bruises from Valentine roughly grabbing her by the neck and throwing her down on the floor. She thought that the scarf and her hair would cover it up, but apparently it do it well enough.

"No one. I'm just clumsy," she whispered. She didn't need him to know. As the school's bad boy, she was sure that he would blab about it to his friends and rumors would spread so she didn't even bother asking him not to tell anyone.

"That looks more like a han-"

"All right my fellow students, I hope that you have thought of topics for your papers!" Mr. Garroway said as he walked into the room. Clary sighed in relief as Mr. Garroway walked into the room. Sometimes without him realizing it, he was Clary's lifesaver at times.

Silently, Clary closed her sketchbook and opened up her notebook as Mr. Garroway started off with the last paper that would ever be due of her high school career.

As the bell rung for the end of the hour, Clary slung her bag over her shoulder and quickly made her way toward the door. Jace silently watched her leave as he slowly gathered his stuff and walked out the door. He was determined to understand the little red head and as to what she was hiding from the world. As to why he cared? He didn't even know himself.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello My Fellow Readers!  
**

**Here is yet another chapter! It****'s also super long! ****I am forewarning you now that after this chapter, it****'s going to get really heavy.I wrote this chapter out so many times to make sure that I had it right. I have a feeling that you all may get mad at me. **

**In this chapter, things are going to pick up a little. In the last chapter Jace has been curious about our friend Clary and he points out a bruise that he spotted on her neck. *Gasp* Now what happens next you may wonder? Well, read on and you shall find out!**

**Please Review! It always makes my day when you do~! :D**

**Love,**

**Lee**

**I DO NOT OWN TMI (but I wish I owned Jace ;D)**

* * *

Jace walked into the lunch room as he looked for the geeky kid Simon. With one quick scan, he found him sitting alone in the highly populated room by the windows. If anyone knew what was going on with Clary, it would be him.

When he reached the table he pulled the chair out across from Simon and sat down. Simon looked up from his latest comic with surprise that quickly turned into a glare. He returned his gaze back to the inked pages of his book and ignored Jace's existence. This made Jace smirk. That day was full of challenges for him.

"Simon, is it?" Jace asked as if he didn't care. Jace watched Simon's reaction to see if he would get one. But there, was nothing. Simon continued to ignore him as he turned to the next page. Jace's irritation spiked a little so he decided to use a different tact.

"So, you're Clary's friend, right?" This definitely caught his attention. His brown eyes looked away from the book and sliced into Jace. He closed his book and glared at the blonde haired boy that sat across from him. He never did like Jace. When he first arrived at Idris High, it felt like everything went out of balance.

The story was that his father was murdered and soon after his mother committed suicide because she became depressed and she couldn't handle being without her husband. It was the summer that Jace was entering high school. After his parent's death, the Lightwoods adopted him since they were the closest thing to family that Jace had.

Simon knew the Lightwoods fairly well.. Only meaning Izzy. Clary would always make fun of Simon for having a crush on Isabelle and she would always say something among the lines of how Isabelle would only rip out his heart out and then walk all over it in her heals. Simon and Isabelle were friends before Jace showed up and when he did, she started to become distant as she hung out only with her brother Alec and Jace. Ever since, he loathed Jace.

Simon always suspected that here was something going on between them, but never got into it because he would Jace with a different girl every other week on his arm. And now that he was asking about Clary, he was on high alert. Jace wasn't about to steal his best friend away from him as well.

"If you're going to make her one of your conquests, forget about it. You won't get far." Simon growled. Jace's smirk grew a little and crossed his leather clad arms in front of his broad chest and leaned back into the chair. Jace knew that he was getting under Simon's skin and he was enjoying it.

"Don't worry, I'm not interested in her." Jace lied. "I was just wondering if you know if she's alright? She seemed a little skittish in class today."

"She's always skittish. Always has been since I've known her. Why do you care?" Simon questioned. He didn't understand as to why Jace cared. Simon studied Jace and his laid back position in the chair.

"I just figured that something was up since there's a huge bruise on her neck.. Well what I think is a bruise... Or was it something else?" Jace feigned to remember. He knew exactly what he saw and it definitely was a bruise. He cringed internally as he thought of the outline of finger on her small neck. Who would do such a thing to her?

Simon paled. He knew something was up with her but he didn't realize that it would be that serious. With abrupt movement, Simon grabbed his stuff and dashed out of the cafeteria as he went to look for Clary. Jace soon followed pursuit as he chased after Simon but he staid a few paces behind so Simon wouldn't know that Jace was following him.

Simon took an immediate right and suddenly stopped as he reached the art room. Jace slowed down and hid behind the corner as he intently listened as he heard Simon speak softly to Clary.

"Clary... Can we talk?" Simon asked. There was a silence for a few minuted before Clary responded. She was sitting in front of her easel, working hard on a drawing that she shielded from Simon as soon as she heard his voice from the doorway of the classroom. Clary's red hair was pulled to one side of her head to hid the bruise that Jace pointed out earlier that day. Since then she felt self-conscious about it. She thought that since Jace could spot it, that maybe everybody else could.

Clary's emerald eyes tore away from Simon and back to her drawing of Jace as she started to cover it with a thin layer of paper to cover it up. Clary didn't understand why she drew him, but it was the first thing that popped in her head and she couldn't control what happened next. She got up from her stool and walked over to her cubby and put her drawing away on the big clip board that it was on and quickly cleaned up after herself. As she was putting the pencils away and now that her back was facing Simon, her responded to his question with another.

"What is it?"

"Is.. Is everything going okay at home? You know.. With Valentine?"

Clary felt the blood leave her face and her body become numb and cold. How could she explain to Simon that her father would beat her everyday and then act as if nothing happened? She couldn't. Clary continued to put the pencils away when she answered.

"Nothing. Everything is fine." She lied.

Simon gritted his teethe. He knew whenever she lied. Clary was terrible at it. Always has been. With angry steps, he walked over to Clary. When he reached her, he swept the gorgeous red curls away from her neck to see the outline of the bruise that Jace was talking about. Clary flinched away from Simon's touch as she brought the scarf that she was wearing tighter around her neck.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Clary ragged. How the hell did Simon find out about th-? Jace.

"Jace told you about this, didn't he?" Clary accused as she slowly started to back away from Simon. She was furious that all of a sudden that this golden boy was interested in her. For what? She didn't want to find out. If Simon found out about the cutting, she was screwed.

"So Valentine did this to you and you haven't even reported him?" Simon asked with the equal amount of rage.

"You know how he gets! And don't you think that he would just find his way out of it? He always does!" Clary hissed. She was back by the easel as she slung her back pack onto her shoulder. Clary knew that if she ever reported Valentine that he would find a way to get around it and blame it on something else and after that he would beat her senseless.

"Clary, that's bullshit!" Simon yelled as he angrily gestured with his hands. Clary rolled her eyes. She had enough of arguing with Simon so she started to walk to the door.

"Clary? Clary!" Simon yelled as he started to walk after her. Clary walked out of the classroom. When she turned the corner, she ran into someone's chest. With a grunt of anger, Clary looked to see who she ran into with an angry retort on her tongue. As soon as her emerald green eyes met with golden ones, the comment died off as more of her anger started to rise. Without thinking about what she was doing, she brought her hand across Jace's face with all of the anger that was seething through her. The hallway echoed with the loud crack. Simon abruptly stopped behind Clary as he saw her slap Jace across the face. Jace's eyes harden as he peered down at the small red head. Clary turned around to glare at Simon. "Don't you fucking dare talk to me Simon Lewis, or you'll get more than just a slap across the face. With thay, Clary moved passed Jace and made her way down the hallway. Simon never experienced a pissed off Clary before and it's something that he never wanted to witness again.

Both Jace and Simon watched Clary walk down the hallway toward the main entrance of the building.

"Well, that went well." Simon whispered. As he cupped the back of his neck with his right hand.

It was silent for a few moments until Jace asked the question that they both dreaded.

"Do we tell someone?"

Simon sagged in defeat. He leaned up against the wall and closed his eyes. "I don't know.."

"What do you mean 'you don't know'?" Jace asked in outrage? His eyes looked away from the now empty doorway and to the boy who was leaning up against the wall. Simon's brown eyes snapped open as he glared at Jace.

"Because I know how her father gets. He will find a way to make it look like he didn't do anything. And again, here I am asking this question, why do you care?" Simon asked coldly.

Jace only starred. How could this idiot claim to be Clary's friend if he won't help her? _"Oh, fuck it. I need a drink.. And a distraction from this fucked up situation." _Jace thought to himself. Without a word, he followed Clary's lead and left the building.

When he reached his black motorcycle, he threw his leg over the seat and turned it on. With enough anger he, started the bike and backed out of the parking space and sped out of the parking lot.

* * *

Clary pulled into driveway. She knew that if Valentine found out that she missed class, he would be furious. Tears were streaming down Clary's face as she turned off her car and made her way to the front door of her house. She was glad that Valentine didn't come home early that day. With automatic movements, she unlocked the door and pushed it open.

Clary walked her through the house and up the stairs where she entered her room. She set her bag by the foot of her bed. She crawled onto the bed and curled into a ball in the middle of it. With a few moments of lying on the bed, she sighed as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. She scrolled through her contacts until she found the number that she was looking for. She sighed as she hit the call button and held the phone to her ear.

The phone rung a total of four times and went to straight to voice-mail. Whatever hope was in Clary's heart shriveled up as she heard her brother's voice on the voice-mail.

"Hey it's Jonathan, you know what to do."

Before the voice-mail could record her message, she ended the call. Clary held the phone to her chest as she started to cry even harder.. It felt like every body was abandoning her.

* * *

(Later That Night)

Jace was behind a girl as he bent her over the couch in his room and roughly entered her. The girl moaned as Jace rammed into her. He just needed to find some type of release and sex was one thing that he knew best.

Within a few minutes the girl was coming around Jace's massive length. Jace could feel the tightening in his stomach, signaling that he was close. He picked up the pace of his thrusts as he started to come undone. He pulled out of the girl and came on her backside. The blonde girl turned her head so that she was facing Jace. She was smiling as she stood up from her spot.

Jace started to pull on his boxer's as the girl started to speak.

"Well that was fun, maybe we should do it again sometime." She purred with seduction.

Jace rolled his eyes. It was always like this after he hooked up with a girl. "Probably not. I don't do girlfriends. See yourself out when you're done." He gestured toward his door. He was thankful that the Lightwood were out doing something.

The girl glared at the beautiful boy as walked over to his bed and crawled in. He laid on his back and folded his hand behind his head as starred at his ceiling. The girl scoffed with scorn as she yanked her clothes on and walked out of his room while slamming his door. Jace didn't even flinch as he was used to girl being upset with him afterwords. He didn't care. He was interested in them. He was only interested in the small red head Clary.

Jace couldn't stop thinking about her at all that day. Instead of thinking about the blonde girl that her was fucking, he imagined that it is was Clary's small frame beneath him.

Jace shook his head as he tried to get the thoughts out of his head. It was still bothering him that Simon won't do anything to help her.. If he Simon didn't do anything soon, Jace would step in. He couldn't stop thinking about the bruise that was one her neck. Jace was wondered about if she had anymore on her body. Then he though about when Clary slapped him across the face. It irritated him a bit to think about it. Clary kept on spinning and going around in his head until his brain couldn't handle it anymore. "_Why are you thinking about her? Forget her." _He thought to himself. With a sigh, Jace rolled over onto his side and closed his eyes as he slowly fell asleep.

* * *

**Please review! Thanks again for reading! As I warned earlier, things are now going to get a little more serious.**

**Love,**

**Lee**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello My Fellow Readers!**

**Sorry that I am updating late! I went home last weekend to visit my Mom and siblings. I swear, it looks like Halloween itself threw up inside and outside of my house! Haha. My Mom is very festive when it comes to the Holiday****'s! I'm also apologizing for if I don't update next week. I am going to go visit my boyfriend of four years who will be leaving for the Air Force in December, so I am trying to spend much time with him as I can. It's hard to see him since I go to school across the state. I have also been elbow deep in Christmas gifts. I knit, so like everybody in my family wants something! Anywho, I am so glad that I have the amount of followers and reviews that I have. When I get a new email and see that it's for A Life Worth Living For, I do a mini happy dance and then I get a weird look from my roommate! Haha. Oh well, she loves me!**

**This is the Chapter that stuff starts to happen. I'm sorry if I have seemed vague in any of my last chapters. I will try my hardest to be more descriptive in the future chapters. Thank you once again with sticking with this story! You guys rock! Oh, before I forget, I usually listen to songs when I am writing. So basically, I base a chapter off of songs. So for this one I used A War Inside by We Came As Romans. And yes, I listen to a lot of metal! I will post the lyrics below! I promise this is not a song fic, I just use music for inspiration. I'm also warning you that this chapter is super duper long! I hope that you enjoy it!**

**Love,**

**Lee**

**I DO NOT OWN TMI**

**A War Inside- We Came As Romans.**

**The devil on my shoulder tells me he's proud of me**  
**That it takes a real man to look out for himself and no one else**  
**I don't want to believe that**  
**But sometimes it's easier to just stay silent**

**I wish I knew how to speak out**  
**I never had a problem with words**  
**But only when talking to someone else**  
**There's a war inside me that's all my own**  
**And I need to talk like a king to keep myself afloat**  
**But how much longer until everyone knows?**

**There's a war inside me that's all my own**  
**There's a war inside me that's all my own**

**I should have started to take my own advice**  
**From the moment that I started giving it**  
**But I can only control what happens from here**  
**And if none of this had happened**  
**Then I couldn't have heard...**

**The angel on my shoulder tells me he's proud of me**  
**That it takes a real man to live for everyone else before himself**  
**I know I believe it**  
**And it'll never get easier**  
**But it will always be worth it**

**There's a war inside me that's all my own**

**I'm still learning to speak out against myself**  
**And stay on the path I truly want to be on**  
**Though I've lost my way more times that I have wished**  
**My heart is constant and willing**

**I still believe that we were made for more**  
**That what I've been doing lately**  
**This end of depression will be the start of getting back what I have lost**  
**Because I had become conceited**  
**But I'm making it back to where I last left off**  
**And so I've shown you my heart**  
**Will you restore me?**

* * *

**{Simon}**

Simon couldn't wrap his head around the fact that something so horrible could happen to his best friend. He felt stupid and ashamed for not noticing her behavior. Yeah, he knew something was up, but he figured Clary would spill when she wanted to talk about what was bothering her. He was going through the motions of pacing in his room. He knew that he needed to tell someone about what was going on but her also knew that if he told, there was going to be repercussions. Simon despised Valentine. He hated the fact that he couldn't hang out with Clary outside of school because the douche bag didn't want her to hang out with boys. He also thought that Valentine was egotistical all because he was some fancy Lawyer.

With a few more paces, Simon let out a sigh in frustration and plumped himself onto his bed. He placed his head into his hands. He felt defeated. He knew he had to do something but he didn't know what. For a few moments, he sat there as he had an internal battle about what he should do.

Silently, Simon lifted his head from his hands and dug through his pants pockets for his cell phone. Praying for the best, Simon dialed a few numbers and pressed the call button. After the first ring, a deep vice answered.

"Officer Lightwood speaking."

"Officer Lightwood, it's Simon Lewis. I have to report something..."

* * *

**{Jace}**

Jace was sitting at the dinning table, lost in thought while eating a bowl of cereal when Robert Lightwood looked away from the newspaper that he was currently reading to answer his shrilling phone. Isabelle and Alec were still asleep. Jace usually got up early and worked out for a bit before school started.

"Officer Lightwood speaking." He answered after the first shrill. Jace focused on his adoptive father. He swallowed the spoon full of cereal that he just chewed up. It was silent for a few minutes as the other person was explaining about their incident. It was normal for Robert to get all kinds of phone calls at anytime of the day so it was no surprise to Jace.

"Are you sure?" Robert asked after a few minutes of silence. Robert sat down his newspaper and started to push his chair away from the table. His face was full of concentration as he absorbed the information that was being told over the phone.

"Okay, I'll see what I can do." With that, Robert ended the call and stood up from his chair. Jace looked at him questioningly.

"Simon Lewis called, saying that Clary Morgenstern has been being abused by her father, Valentine. I knew there was something wrong with that sick son of a bitch." Robert spat. Jace paled a little. "So Simon actually had balls," he thought to himself.

"So what are you going to do?" Jace asked as he completely forgot about his cereal.

"Well first I have to find some type of evidence before I can actually arrest him." Robert responded.

"How are you going to do that?"

"I'm not sure yet." Robert sighed. He pushed in his chair and started to head towards the kitchen. Jace soon followed as he picked up his bowl of now soggy cereal. "When you see your mother, can you tell her that I'm at the station?"

"Sure."

"Thanks. Oh, and Jace. No detention today. Please?" And with that, Robert left the house.

Jace smiled a he poured the left over cereal into the garbage disposal of the sink. The smile slowly slipped from his face as he though about what was going to happen to Clary. He remembered her telling something about "how he should know how Valentine gets." Whatever that means. The bastard should be put in jail for a life sentence.

Whistle putting his bowl in the sink and rinsing it out, Jace headed up to room so he could change out of his workout clothes and to take a shower. When Jace was going through the motions of showering, his mind was on Clary. He couldn't stop thinking about her and it was driving him insane. _"Why her?" _He thought to himself. What made her so special out of all the females that he could indulge himself in.

Frustrated, Jace turned off the water and grabbed the towel that was hanging over the shower rod. He wrapped the towel around his well defined waist and walked out the bathroom that conjoined with his room. Jace walked over to his closet and grabbed his usual attire. Dark Jeans, some type of shirt, and his leather jacket to go over it. He quickly dressed and soon found himself back in his bathroom staring back at his reflection in the mirror. His beautiful golden blonde hair was tasseled with curls. He needed a hair cut and soon.

Jace's golden eyes were piercing. He gripped the sink as he thought about the wretched bastard that could harm such a harmless person. Jace knew exactly who Valentine was. Hell, everybody in this town knew who he was. He was Idris's top lawyer. He was also an arrogant prick who though that he could run the town.

Valentine moved to Idris two years before Jace did and by the second week he was there, he had the townspeople wrapped around his cruel fingers. Jace had a few run in's with Valentine and every time Jace always felt uneasy around him and it takes a lot to make Jace feel uneasy.

Jace was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear Izzy come into this room. He was startled when he heard his name being called.

"What?" He asked as he looked away from the mirror to look at his sister. Izzy was leaning against the door frame of the bathroom. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest. She looked beautiful, but she always did. Her black hair was elegantly curled and framed her face perfectly. She was wearing an above the knee emerald green sweater dress with quarter sleeves, that was accompanied with a dark brown belt. Izzy also wore dark brown boots that came up to the knee. She wore minimum make-up but it was enough to make her brown eyes pop. She was stunning.

"Is everything okay?" She asked. Her brown eyes were searching Jace's golden one's. Isabelle knew that something has been bothering Jace lately, but she wasn't sure what. Nothing bothered him, so this was unusual. Jace let go of his grip on the sink and straightened himself out.

"Everything is fine." He replied. Jace walked past Isabelle into his room. He grabbed his back pack and slung in over his shoulder. Isabelle followed him.

"Are you sure? I mean you were intently starring at yourself in the mirror for awhile."

Jace scoffed. "What? I'm not allowed to admire myself? Is that a crime now?" He asked as he made his was down the stairs. Isabelle rolled her eyes as she followed her pig headed brother down the stairs. Alec was sitting at the island that was in the kitchen. We was eating cereal. He looked at his brother and sister as they entered the room. He immediately knew that Isabelle was pestering Jace.

"Izzy, leave him alone with whatever you're bugging him about." Alec said in-between spoonfuls of cereal. Isabelle stopped on the other side of the counter top from Alec. She glared at him.

"Fine." She hissed. Jace only smirked as he headed for the door that lead out to the garage.

"Oh, before I forget, can you tell Mom that dad had to leave for work early this morning?" Jace asked as he opened the screen door.

"Where are you going? School doesn't start for another thirty minutes." Isabelle exclaimed.

"I'm going for a ride." Jace simply replied as he walked out of the house into the garage. When he stood at the top of the stairs, he pushed the button on the wall to open the garage door. He made his way down the stairs to his motorcycle. When he reached his bike, he swung his leg over and started it up. He slowly backed it out of the garage and down the driveway.

* * *

**{Clary}**

Clary stood in the shower as she washed her abused body. There were no new bruises that morning but there were angry lines that covered her wrists and upper thighs. The stress from yesterday was bearing down upon her. She was afraid now that Simon knew her secret, that he would go to the authority.

All of a sudden anger ran through her. If it wasn't for Jace, they wouldn't be in this predicament. Clary scrubbed a little bit harder on her raw skin as she imagined punching the blonde haired boy right in his pretty face. There was also anger that covered the fear of what Jace may do with this information. The whole school could know by now without her even knowing it herself. She was also angry at her brother for not answering her phone calls. For leaving her with Valentine. For not taking her with where ever she went.

Jonathan left as soon as he graduated. Clary remembered that day clearly.

* * *

Clary was sitting in front of her easel early that morning. She was working on a piece that Mr. Garroway asked for to hang in his room. She heard shuffling in her brother's room which across the hall from hers. Gently she set down her paint brush and walked over to Jonathan's room. The door was closed but Clary could hear that he was up to something.

With a light knock on the door, Clary opened his door and was shocked to see that Jonathan's room was filled with boxes. She looked in his room and found Jonathan in his closet pulling clothes out and laying them on his bed.

"Jon, what's going on?" Clary whispered as she stepped into his room and silently closed his door. Jonathan jumped a little as he heard his sister's voice. _He mustn't of heard the knock, _Clary thought to herself. His piercing green eyes looked into the identical ones of his sister's. Even though Jonathan was a spitting image of their father Valentine with the white blonde hair, same body frame and face structure, his eyes came from their mother, Jocelyn.

"Clary! You scared the hell out of me! What are you doing in here?" Jon questioned as he continued to move stuff around in his room.

"I heard you moving stuff around in here so I figured I would see what you were doing and yet I still don't know what that is." Clary replied as she placed her small hands on her hips as she watched her brother move about the room.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm leaving." Clary was stunned when she heard this come out of Jon's mouth.

"What? Why? Where are you going?" Clary demanded. Jonathan never met Clary's eyes once as he laid his clothes upon his bed.

"Why do you think Clary? I can't stand being here anymore and now that I have graduated and that I am legally an adult, I'm moving out."

"So... So you're leaving me?" Clary whispered. Jon stopped with what he was doing to finally look at his sister. Her arms were now by her sides as she looked down at the floor. Her clothes were covered in paint and her thick, red, curly hair was falling out of it's pony tail holder.

Jonathan couldn't stand how Clary looked at that moment. With a few strides, Jon had Clary in his arms in an embrace. Clary wrapped her tiny arms around Jon's torso and squeezed tightly.

"Please, don't leave. Don't leave me here all alone with him," Clary begged. Jon tightened his embrace around Clary's tiny frame.

"Clary, I'll come back for you. I promise." Jon whispered into her ear.

* * *

"Yeah, some promise Jon," Clary said under her breath as she got out of the shower and wrapped her battered body into a towel. She opened the bathroom door and stuck her head out to make sure that the hallway was clear so she could walk to her room. With quick steps, Clary made it to her room and silently shut her door. She was praying that Valentine was still asleep. He came home late that night. Clary could her him making a ruckus downstairs. She closed her eyes as she hoped that he would just go to be that night and totally forget about her existence.

Luck was on her side for once. Valentine noisily made his way to his room and then all was silent. Clary's breathing turned back to normal as she opened her eyes to stare out into the autumns night sky through her window.

Clary pulled on a pair lose jeans that had paint splatters on them. Slowly and carefully, she maneuvered a gray long sleeve shirt over her torso. No matter what, Clary always felt like she was sore. Walking over to her door where a mirror hung from the back of her door, she looked at herself. The girl that was in the mirror looked like she's been hit by a bus.

There were bags under her green hollowed eyes. Her hair was wet and it was curling into tight curls. She looked paler than usual. Her skin looked transparent. Clary reached out to stroke the reflection in the mirror when all of a sudden she heard Valentine shout out for her.

"Clarissa!" Clary sighed as she reached for the handle on the door. She walked out of her room and made her way down the stairs. She found Valentine pacing in the kitchen with his cell phone clenched in his right hand. Clary stopped dead in her tracks. Panic seemed to grip her heart.

Valentine heard his daughter's arrival. He stopped pacing to glare at her. Fury was radiating off of him in waved. Clary cringed as Valentin's dark eyes bore into her. He seemed to be collected. He was even dressed for work with a black suit and his suit case that laid on the kitchen's island.

"Who have you told?" Valentine spat. The panic that gripped Clary's heart, gripped it tighter and it slithered it's way to her lungs as her breaths became short.

"Told about what?" Clary asked as she feigned innocence. She knew exactly what Valentine was talking about. Simon must of called the police department.. Or better yet, Jace must have told someone thinking that it would be a sick joke.

"Dammit Clarissa," Valentine slammed his fist into the top of the island, "you know exactly what I am talking about. Who did you fucking tell?"

"I didn't tell anyone! I swear! A kid in one of my classes saw something and came to the conclusion that I was being abused. I just told him that I was just a klutz! I swear, I didn't tell anybody!" Clary spewed. She was starting to hyperventilate as fear and panic wrapped her in a warm embrace. Valentine walked over to her and gripped her face with his hand.

"Well then why did I get a phone call asking me to see Officer Lightwood Clarissa? Huh?"

"I-I don't know," Clary whispered. Tears were starting to form in the back of her eyes.

"Huh... There's something that you're not telling me." Valentine said as he continued to grip his daughter's face and glare at her. His breath caressed her face like ice. Clary tried her hardest not to squirm. All of a sudden, Valentine's eyes widen.

"It was that damn Simon Lewis kid, wasn't it?" He spat.

"I don't know," Clary answered truthfully. She also didn't want Simon to get into trouble. With a quick motion, Valentine brought Clary's head forward and then slammed it into the wall that was behind her. Clay's eye widened before the darkness consumed her.

Valentine let Clary's body crumple to the floor. He looked down at her and grimaced. He hated how much she looked like her bitch of a mother. Valentine turned his body away from his daughter and walked out of the house without another glance. He had very important business to take care of.

He flipped his cell phone open that he still gripped in his hand. He dialed a number and waited for Blackwell to answer. With the second ring, he answered.

"What's up boss?"

"I have a job for you and Pangborn." Valentine replied with a cruel smile on his face.

* * *

{**Simon}**

Simon pulled his car up to the stop sign on his way to school. He could see that there was another car coming so he patiently sat at the stop sign and waited for the car to pass. While waiting, Simon thought about whether or not what he did was right or not. With a sigh, Simon looked up to see if the car had passed yet.

Simon swore under his breath when he saw the car swerve in his direction. Before Simon could react, the car hit him head on. Simon's head smacked the steering wheel with such a brute force. He only heard the crunch sound of metal and he saw a burst of colors before everything went black..


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello My Fellow Readers!**

**I can****'t believe that I have 38 followers! It makes me incredibly happy! I am also glad that I didn't get any hate mail from you guys after the last chapter! Haha. Anyways, I also hoped that you enjoyed the last chapter. Thank you guys for reading on! :D I am also so sorry for updating so late! Please don't kill me!**

**Here is the next chapter! For this chapter I listened to Millennia by Crown The Empire. I love this band and I felt that this song would go with this chapter fairly well. **

**Enjoy!**

**Love,**

**Lee**

**I DO NOT OWN TMI**

{Jace}

Jace just pulled into the parking lot of the school when he heard the wail of sirens of an ambulance rush by. All the kids in front of the school stopped what they were doing to watch. A cold chill ran down Jace's spine as an uneasy feeling crept through his body. Jace swung his leg over the seat of his bike and started to head toward the school building. Usually Jace would shake off the uneasy feeling and continue with his day, but for some reason this feeling wouldn't go away. Without talking to anyone, Jace made his way to English. He was shocked to see that Clary wasn't there. She was usually there before everyone else. She would be sitting in her seat while reading or sketching. With confusion, Jace made his way to his new seat that was across from Clary's seat.

Jace leaned back in his chair and crossed his arm across his chest. He anxiously waited for Clary to walk through the door. But with every student that walked through the door, he didn't spot any one with fiery red hair or beautiful green eyes. The unsettling feeling seemed to grow as the hand on the clock seemed to creep closer to 8:15, signaling that class would start. As the hand on the clock rested on the minute before, Jace abruptly stood up and walked out of the room. He could hear Mr. Garroway yelling for him but Jace kept on walking toward the front doors of the school building. He didn't give a rats ass if he would get in trouble for this, he just needed to make sure that Clary was okay. He had the sinking feeling that the ambulance had do something with Clary... 

{Clary}

Clary's eyes fluttered open and she soon regretted it as the blinding light of the kitchen made her eyes hurt. She couldn't quit remember what exactly happened. She was lying on her kitchen floor and her pocket of her jeans was buzzing like crazy. Clary pushed herself up onto her knees and cried out in pain as the pulsing in her head came roaring to life. She closed her eyes and forced herself to hold back the tears. _What the fuck happened? _She thought to herself. She stayed in that position for a while as her pocket in her jeans continued to buzz. It finally stopped and within a few seconds it started buzzing again.

As Clary tried to remember how she ended up on her kitchen floor, she reached for her phone in her pocket. She didn't look at the I.D as she hit the answer key.

"Hello?" Clary whispered. _Chirst, it even hurts to talk._

"Clary, thank god! You have to come to the hospital and fast!" Simon's mom spewed on the other end.

"Mrs. Lewis? What's going on?" Clary whispered in a panic. She pushed herself onto her knees. Her head pounded ferociously but she tried to ignore it the best she could.

"Simon's been in a car accident! Please, hurry!" And with that, Mrs. Lewis hung up. Clary's entire body froze. Memories of Valentine slamming her head against the wall resurfaced as a sickening ache formed in the pit of her stomach. If anything happened to Simon, it would be all her fault. With a quickened breath, Clary opened her eyes and the world started to spin. With the strength that she could muster, she closed her eyes and stood up. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. The world stopped spinning slightly as she made her was across the kitchen toward the front door.

Clary placed her hand on the door handle when she heard a knock on the other side of the door. She froze in shock. She had no idea who was on the other side. With a deep breath, Clary opened the door. She was shocked to see who was on the other side. Jace. He was looking at her with worry. His hands were in the pockets of his leather jacket. His golden hair was wind blown. If this was some other time, Clary would of thought him to look sexy, but she had no time for any of his shenanigans as she needed to get to the hospital and fast.

"Jace, you can't be here. Aren't you supposed to be at school?" Clary rasped as she moved passed him while closing and locking the door behind her.

"Aren't you?" He questioned back as Clary made her way down the driveway to her car. Jace had parked his motorcycle in the street.

Clary scoffed as best as she could as she fumbled with her keys. Her hands were shakey and this only made her more frustrated. With a final shake of her hand, Clary through her keys onto the ground and looked at him.

"Damn you Jace Wayland!" She exclaimed. "I don't have the time for this. I have to get to the hospital."

Without taking his eyes off of Clary, Jace made his way over to Clary and picked up her keys from her car. Tears were starting to prick in the back of her eyes as panic started to engulf her. She had a feeling that Valentine was responsible for the car accident. Her whole body began to shake as she started to sob. All she wanted to do was to get to the hospital and hold Simon.

Jace stood up from picking up Clary's keys and did something unexpected. He wrapped his arms around the small red head and brought her to his chest. He rested his head on top of her as he felt her body shake from her sobs. Jace was shocked from his actions, but he couldn't stand seeing Clary this upset.

After a few minutes, Clary's sobs subsided. She stood in Jace's embrace as she awkwardly welcomed his comfort.

"Jace?" Clary asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Hmm?"

"Can I have my keys?" Jace shook his head and pulled away from Clary. Before she could protest, Jace interrupted her.

"Get in the passenger seat. I'll drive." Clary could only nod as she pulled herself out of Jace's embrace and walked over to the passenger side of her car. Jace was already in the drivers seat and had the car started when Clary buckled up. Jace backed out of the drive way and headed toward the hospital.

Clary fidgeted anxiously in her seat as Jace speed to the hospital. Jace could see from the corner of his left eye that Clary was anxious. He rested his hand on her knee for comfort. Clary stiffened for a second and then she relaxed. She looked at his hand that was placed on her knee. She was still curious as to why Jace was at her house. Wasn't he supposed to be in school? But then again, when did Jace ever follow the rules? She looked away from his hand to look out her window.

"Jace..?" Clary whispered. Jace looked away from the windshield to quickly glance at Clary.

"Yes?" He questioned as he brought his gaze back to the windshield. Clary never looked at him. She was still staring out her own window.  
" Why did you come to my house?" Jace was silent for a few seconds as he pulled the car to a stop at a red light.

"Well," he started, "you weren't in class and with everything that went down yesterday after school, I wasn't sure if anything happened to you." He gripped the steering wheel with a fierce grip all the while his knuckles turned pale. Clary didn't know what to say. There was a part of her that was joyous that he cared about her, but then there was a part that was confused as to why he did.

Jace stepped on the gas peddle as soon as the light turned green. It was silent for the rest of the car ride as Jace hastily made their way to the hospital. When they reached for the parking lot, Clary didn't wait for the car stopped. She unbuckled herself and flung herself out the car. Jace swore under his breath as he watched the red head run toward the doors. Jace quickly found a parking space and got out himself. He locked the car and jogged to the doors. He made it just in time as Clary was talking to the plump blonde receptionist at the front desk.

"I need to see Simon Lewis." Clary gasped as she tried to catch her breath. Jace silently stood behind her as the receptionist typed in a few things. Then she looked at Clary with her crystal blue eyes and asked "Are you an relative?"

Clary grunted with impatience as she spat out that she was Simon's sister. The lady behind the desk then nodded and told her what floor that he was on. Clary dashed for the elevator without saying thanks. Jace was right behind her. Clary pressed the up arrow of the elevator and impatiently waited for it to arrive. As soon as the doors opened, Clary jumped in, not waiting for anybody to file out. Jace walked in and stood beside her as she pressed the third floor button. The door of the elevator slowly shut and made it's way up to the third floor.

When the door opened, she nearly sprinted to the waiting room. Jace hastily followed. Soon he found himself standing of the door way of the waiting room. Clary had her arms wrapped around a lady that had dark curly hair that resembled Simon's. Jace assumed that it was Simon's mother. Jace couldn't hear what Clary was asking Simon's mom but he could see she her lips moving. Tears started to pool in Simon's mother's eyes as she shook her head. Clary stiffened. She let go of the elder ladies body and fell to her knees.

There she berried her head into her and her body started to shake as Jace heard her sob.

He could only imagine what that could of meant. Simon's mother dropped to her knee's as well and tried to comfort her, but Clary wouldn't have it. Jace took that as his cue to do something.

Jace crossed the room to where Clary was. He knelt down beside her and whispered to Mrs. Lewis that he would take care of Clary. Mrs. Lewis only looked at him questioningly but then she nodded her head, got up and left. Jace wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on hers. He whispered sweet nothings and rocked her back and forth as Clary sobbed out "He's gone Jace. He's gone..."


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello My Fellow Readers!**

**I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving/Holiday! I hope that you all ate a lot and don't regret it! I sure don't! Haha!**

**I love the amount of support that I have from you guys! I was pretty sure that you were all going to kill me since I killed off Simon. Don't worry, there will be some type of justice!**

**I set this chapter two weeks after Simon's death. I really hope that you, as my readers, are enjoying this story this far. As I said in my earlier notes, I get super excited every time I see a new email for either a new follow/favorite and or a review! You guys are my true inspiration! I know a few of you want longer chapters and I will try my hardest to fill up to those expectations!**

**Thank you guys for everything! I love you all! Keep the love coming!**

**I used the song in this chapter was "Hear Me Now" by Framing Hanley. I hope that you enjoy this chapter!**

**Love,**

**Lee**

**{Clary}**

~Two Weeks Later~

Tears started to stream down Clary's face as she peered down at Simon's head stone. Two weeks have passed and she was still in denial that her best friend was gone. He was ripped away from a life that was just beginning. They were going to graduate and head to college. But that didn't seem possible now with everything spiraling out of control. Clary closed her eyes and thought about the funeral.

The funeral was unbearable. Although Clary didn't shed one tear, the pain was lacerating through her body. She stood by Elaine Lewis as Simon's coffin was being lowered into the grave. Elaine was grossly sobbing as she watched her son being put six feet under. As Clary looked away from the grave, her eyes were met with a pair of gold. Jace was standing on the other side. Even though Clary couldn't quite figure out what kind of relationship that they shared, she was glad that Jace was there for support. He stood awkwardly with his hand in the pockets of his leather jacket. Although he dressed nice for the occasion, he couldn't part from his jacket. To add to the rugged look, his gold hair was messy and tumbled in lose curls.

When he caught Clary's attention, he faintly smiled at her as if to comfort her. Clary, tried to smile back, but it turned into a grimace. She tore her eyes from Jace's golden orbs and looked back at the coffin that held her best friend.

Clary opened her eyes and fell to her knees. The numbness that she was feeling was slowly turning into an ugly anger that she never felt before. She was angry at Valentine and how he got away with murder without even being suspected. She also blamed herself for having Simon killed. If she wasn't careless and more cautious about hiding her faults, Simon would still be alive. Clary balled her hands into fists and looked up at the pale gray, clouded sky. The scent of rain was thick in the air.

"Why him?" Clary yelled. "Why him and not me? He didn't deserve this!" Her voice broke as a gross sob escaped from her lips. Tears started to flow more rapidly as she looked away from the sky and wrapped her arms around her waist as she bent forward. Her head touched the soft ground as the sobs wracked powerfully through her body. She hadn't cried since the day in the hospital and just letting the screams and yells escape through her lips made the anger and the numbness go away.

Clary laid on Simon's grave until she grew weak from the screaming and yelling. The tears that were only falling mere seconds ago were now drying to her cheeks. She laid in the silence, waiting for the rain to start. She didn't care how long she was out at the grave or how cold it was becoming. All she wanted was her Simon back, she wanted Jon to call her back, and most of all she wanted her mother... Closing her eyes, Clary curled up into a ball and begged for the Earth to consume her..

* * *

{Jace}

It's been over two weeks since Jace has seen Clary last. She hasn't been to school and he knew that it would be to hard for her. He also worried about her, but he knew that she was being watched like a hawk by Valentine. Ever since Jace called Clary out on her self mutilation, he felt like a major douche. He felt that it was all his fault. If he hadn't been the one to tell Simon about it, Simon would be alive still. Although Jace always found Simon annoying, he felt a loss.

Jace was laying in his bed with his hands resting behind his head. He was only wearing a white t-shirt with baggy jeans. School this past week was a little brutal, but nothing that he couldn't handle. Jace didn't know what time it was or nor did her care. He was to deep into thought to even notice that Isabel walked into his room. Her face was hidden behind her curtain of black hair as she made her way to his bed. She gently sat down on the clean white covers with her back facing Jace. It was quiet as they both sat in silence.

"What is it Izzy?" Jace asked without taking his gold eyes off of the ceiling. Isabel was staring intently at the wooden floor as she replied to his question.

"How are you?" Jace rolled his eyes. Isabel has been asking this question for about a week now. It was starting to irritate him to the point to where he wanted to pull his hair out.

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you this, but I am fine." He answered through his teeth. Isabel laughed without any humor. She knew that was a lie, otherwise she wouldn't be in his room. Isabel turned toward Jace so she was facing him. Jace tore his eyes away from the ceiling so that he was looking at his sister. He was shocked to see that she wasn't in her usual attire. She was in a pair of black baggy sweat pants and a purple long sleeved shirt that came off the shoulder. Her hair was done as it flowed past her shoulders and down to her waist. There wasn't even a smudge of make-up on her face.

Jace propped himself onto his elbows to look his sister in the eyes. He knew that something was off with her.

"Before you ask about what's the matter with me, you need to answer my question first. And honestly." Isabel cut in before Jace could say one word. He glared at his sister. He knew that she knew that he hated talking about things. With another roll of his eyes, he pushed himself off of his bed and made his way to the bathroom. On his way there, he could hear Isabel protest but he wasn't sure what she was saying as he ignored her. When he reached the door, he slammed it and locked it. He slid down the door and sat on the floor. He leaned his head against the door and closed his eyes.

Before he could get any peace, he heard and felt Izzy pound on the door as she yelled at him.

"Jace, you jackass! Open this door this instance!" Jace continued to ignore her. But Isabel was persistent.

"Jace, seriously, open the door! I know there's something up with you, but I also think that there's something wrong with Clary as well." With that last statement, Jace stood up, unlocked the door and swung it open. Isabel was in mid knock when she stopped herself from hitting her brother.

"What do you mean? You've seen her? When?" He asked. _That would explain why she was in sweats and why her hair was damp_. Jace thought to himself.

"About thirty minutes ago. I dropped her off at her house. I found asleep in the rain on top of Simon's grave. I was going to ask her if I could come in but she took off. I think you should go check on her." Without anymore words of encouragement, Jace was out of the bathroom and was in search of his boots. When he found them, he slipped them on without putting socks on. He grabbed his leather jacket and swung it on.

Jace made his way down the stairs and grabbed his keys off of the counter. He didn't care if it was raining, he was still taking his bike. With Isabel hot on his trail and saying something about him being nuts about taking his bike, Jace made his way to the garage. Within a few seconds, Jace swung his leg over the seat and started his bike and he was on his way to Clary's. Praying that Valentine was gone and that Clary wasn't going to do anything stupid.

* * *

{Clary}

Clary was awoken by someone shaking her. She woke up with a start as she found herself laying on top of Simon's grave. She was soaking wet from the rain.

"Clary, you need to get up. You'll catch a cold or something if you stay out here any longer." Isabel said as she positioned herself behind Clary. She looped her arms underneath Clary's armpits and pulled her up to her feet. Clary looked a little dazed and confused as she turned around to look at Isabel. Clary looked at the raven haired girl. She was in rain gear and she was looking at Clary with sympathy. Clary's emerald eyes looked away from Isabel's brown ones as she looked back at the headstone. Isabel reached out and grabbed Clay's arm to comfort her. This only caused Clary to flinch away. Isabel looked at her in confusion but then only pulled her hand back.

"What are you doing here?" Clary asked without looking at Isabel.

"I came here to visit Simon. You know, I was his friend to." Isabel replied gently. Clary didn't say anything. She groggy from sleeping.

"We should get you home." Isabel stated as peered at Clary. Her red curly hair was plastered to her face. Her clothes were drenched with rain water. Clary didn't take her eyes off of the headstone as she shook her no.

"Okay." Was Clary's only reply as she followed Isabel. They made their way to Isabel's car in silence and the silence was continued as they made their way to Clary's house. The stress of the last two weeks was finally catching up to Clary as the need to cut was becoming stronger with every house that Isabel passed. When they were in front of her house, Clary mumbled her thanks as she got out of the car and into the rain. She jogged to the front door without looking back at Isabel. It was a good thing that Valentine was out of town for two weeks, otherwise Clary didn't know what she would of done. Once she was inside, Clary ran upstairs by taking two at a time.

It was if her body was on automatic as she made her way to the bathroom. Once the bathroom door was closed, she stripped out of her clothes and she got her razor out its hiding spot. After she found her razor, she ripped the shower curtain open as she turned on the shower so that it was scalding hot. With body movements that were frantic, Clary got into the shower without even thinking about closing the shower curtain. She didn't care.

Without a second thought, Clary brought the razor to her left wrist and slowly dragged the blade across her skin. The bight of the metal made Clary sigh. She made a few more swipes on her skin without realizing how deep she was cutting. The blood was flowing heavily, making it's way down Clary's naked body and into the drain with the water.

Clary felt as if she was on cloud nine. She became dizzy and smiled. To support herself, Clary rested her body against the shower wall. Her eyesight was beginning to dim and become fuzzy. For some reason, she thought she was dying and with that crazed thought she smiled. Clary welcomed the feeling. Maybe she would see Simon sooner than she thought. With a happy sigh, Clary began to sink to the floor of the shower. As soon as she was on the floor, her eyes started to droop. She was so tired and all she wanted to do was sleep.

But there was a loud bang at the bathroom door. Clary thought of Valentine finding her like this, but then again, wouldn't this be for the best?

"Clary?!" She heard someone yell her name. With the fuzz still swarming in her eyesight, she could only make out the golden heap of hair which made her think of Jace. With the thought of Jace, Clary smiled. She could only make out his face in the haze. With the light surrounding his panicked, beautiful face, he looked like an angel. "So this is what heaven must be like?" She whispered to herself as the darkness dragged her into the abyss of unconsciousness...


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello My Fellow Readers!  
I know, two updates in less than a day! I am extremely happy that I have 65 followers. Thank you for all the reviews as well! It makes me super happy! I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter! Also, Jon makes an appearance! I hope this makes everybody happy!**

**The song that I used for this chapter was Lighthouse by The Word Alive.**

**Love,**  
**Lee.**

* * *

{Jace}

"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" Jace exclaimed as he saw Clary close her eyes with a smile on her face. Jace frantically looked around the small bathroom to see if he could find anything that could stop the bleeding. In luck, Jace spotted towels that sat on a rack above the toilet. He hastily grabbed some without even caring how many he had. With quick movements, Jace placed the towels next to the bathtub and swiftly removed his jacket. He cursed himself for wearing white, but continued to climb into the tub while turning off the water of the shower and pulling the unconscious Clary into his arms.

Clary weighed little to nothing as Jace lifted her out of the bath tub. He still had her pressed to his body like he was holding a baby, when he grabbed the towels from the floor and walked out of the bathroom. He made haste as he opened the doors to every room that was on the upstairs floor. Jace wasn't to worried about the blood that was getting on the floor or all over himself, he was more worried about getting the bleeding to stop before Clary lost any more. After opening the third door, he figured since the room was adorned with light purple walls, that it was Clary's room. With one hand he laid down a towel on her bed and placed the others next to the towel he laid down, then placed the Clary on top of the towel.

There was blood every where and as soon as Jace set Clary down, the blood seeped into the white yellow towel. Along with the blood loss, Clary's complexion was becoming paler than usually. Jace murmured another curse word as he got to work. He gently grabbed Clary's left arm and wrapped it in a towel and applied pressure, willing the bleeding to stop. The blood immediately soaked through the towel. _She must of cut a major artery, _Jace thought to himself.

After a few minutes of applying pressure, Jace opened up the towel to see if the blood flow decreased. For once, luck was on his side. The blood flow has almost completely stopped. Jace closed his eyes and whispered a thanks to whomever was listening. Jace swapped out the bloodied towel with a new fresh one. He gently wrapped new towel around Clary's wrist and tied it with another towel. He knew that he needed to get Clary to the hospital but he knew there would be a lot of questioning as to why there was a deep cut on Clary's arm.

Jace started to clean up the bloodied garments off of the floor. He wasn't sure where to put them. He looked around Clary's room and was relieved to see that there was a hamper in her room by her closet. He walked over to the hamper and opened it to make sure that there wasn't any clothing in there. As if it was ironic, luck seemed to be with him today. He placed the ruined towels in the hamper and made a mental note to bring the hamper with him to get rid of them. As if he remembered, Jace looked down at his own shirt and grimaced a little. Clary's blood was all over his white shirt as well but yet, there wasn't any on his pants. _Oh what the hell?_

With that thought, Jace turned around to look at Clary and noticed for the first time that she was naked. Yeah, he knew that she was naked when he busted into the bathroom, but it didn't sink in until now. She was extremely beautiful, even with the bruising on her petite body. He walked closer to her and knelt down at her bed side. Clary's wet hair was starting to curly as it flowed down to her waist. Her gorgeous red hair covered her small mound of breasts. Jace looked at her more closely and he noticed that there was some form of injury whether it was bruising or wounds from the abuse that she retained from Valentine. Then he spotted the cuts that also accompanied the wounds from the abuse. Not only where the cuts on her wrists, they were on her thighs and lower abdomen. This made Jace's stomach roll in anger. _How could a father do this to his own flesh and blood? _He questioned as he examined Clary's body for anymore self mutilation and he was pleased that he didn't see any.

After examining her body, Jace stood up from his kneeling position and looked to see if she had her phone. To his surprise, it was laying on the nightstand that was on the other side of her bed. Walking to the other side of her bed, he picked up her phone and opened up to the main screen. He clicked on her contact button and scrolled through her contacts, looking for someone that he could call. When he was going through her contacts, Jace remembered that she had an older brother..

"Ah, what was his name?" Jace whispered to himself. As he scrolled through the contacts, he saw the name Jon and recognition hit him. Without a second thought, he called the number that popped up with Jon's contact information. Jace waited with irritation as the phone rang four times and then went to voicemail. He ended the call, and hit the redial button. He had the same result as the last call but this time he left a message after the beep.

"I hope that this is Clary's brother, if it's not, sorry about bothering you. Jon, this is Jace Lightwood, I am a friend of Clary's and there is something terribly wrong with her. Please, call as soon as you can. Thanks." And with that, Jace ended the call after leaving his number. Jace placed Clary's phone back on the table and pulled his phone out of his drenched pocket. He dialed a number that he knew by heart and waited patiently as he waited for Magnus to answer. After the second ring, he answered.

"What is it Jace?" Magnus answered.

"Is that really how you answer all your calls?" Jace sarcastically asked. His irritation was growing with every passing minute.

"Just get to what you want." Magnus snapped. With reluctance, Jace told Magnus everything about Clary and that he needed Magnus to come to the Morgensterns to help Clary. Magnus listened intently to Jace's story and sighed out of sadness when Jace was finished. "I'll be there in a few minutes." Then he hung up. Jace pulled the phone away from his ear and dialed another number. Isabelle answered on the first ring.

"Hello? Jace? What's going on?" Jace answered her questions and told her that he wouldn't be home that night. Isabelle was quiet throughout the whole story until Jace was finished.

"Is she going to alright?" Isabelle asked. Jace sighed.

"I sure hope so." Was all he said. Isabelle said something about keeping her posted before she hung up. Jace pulled the phone away from his ear and placed back into his pocket. He looked back at Clary as she lay on her bed naked and decided that he needed to clean up the blood that landed on the floor. He made his way around, and placed a feather soft kiss on top of Clary's head before he realized what he was doing. Pulling away from her, he turned around and walked out of her room. He went back to the bathroom and grimaced at what he saw. Blood was all over the bathtub but yet none made it to the floor. _It's probably because I got it all over my shirt._Jace thought to himself. He looked under the sink for some bleach and cleaning rags. Once he found it, he was glad to find that there was.

Jace slipped on the gloves, and poured some of the bleach into the bath tub and started to scrub away Clary's blood. By the time Magnus showed up at the house, Jace was putting the cleaning supplies away. He walked to Clary's room and saw that Magnus was already attending to Clary's wounds. Jace watched from the door way as Magnus stitched Clary's back together. Once he was done, we wrapped her wrist with some form of gauze and he started to pack his stuff up into his briefcase.

Magnus stood up from his kneeling position and turned around to face Jace. Jace looked at Magnus with questioning eyes. Magnus was in his usual attire but without the white coat to signify that he was a doctor. He wore a buttoned down shirt that was black but had sparkles on it and along with that, he wore skin tight jeans. His short hair that was usually spiked, was flat against his head today. It seemed that stress was weighing down on the doctor.

"She should be fine. Just make sure that she gets her rest and if she has another psychotic episode, don't even think about calling me in. She needs help Jace." Magnus said as he walked over to Jace. He placed a hand on Jace's shoulder. "Be there for her. It may not seem like it, but you're the only person she has left." Pulling his hand back, Magnus walked out Clary's room. Jace racked his fingers through his hair as be let out a sigh in frustration. He walked over to her closet and looked for something to put on her body.

After a few minutes of searching, he found something that resembled sweat pants and a t-shirt. With his new findings, he brought the clothes to Clary and carefully put them on her without disturbing her newly wrapped wrist. When Jace was done dressing Clary, he sat at the foot of her bed and rested his head in his hands. Although he was tense, the soft snores that were coming from Clary made him relax. He was thankful that he made it in time before anything had gotten worse. With a sigh, Jace lifted his head up and crawled the rest of the way onto Clary's bed. He was on the other side of her. He placed a kiss on her forehead again and made a vow.

"I will never let you go. I will be the one to stand by your side. I will be the one to help you." He whispered into her hear. With that, he laid down next to her and closed his eyes.

* * *

{Jon}

Jon listened to the voicemail that was left by Jace Lightwood. He so badly wanted to call him to make sure that Clary was alright, but he knew that would blow his cover. He shut his phone and punched the wall that was nearest to him and let out a yell of rage. He didn't like the fact that he couldn't reach out to his sister. All he wanted to do was comfort her and take her away from that hell hole.

"Jonathan? What's the matter?" He heard his mother call from upstairs. He heard her descend the stairs and he turned around as soon as she was taking the last step. It was scary how Clary was a spitting image of their mother. She was wearing a deep blue rob and her flaming red hair was in a bun that was piled on top of her head. Jocelyn took in the situation. Jon was holding his phone in a firm grip and hir knuckles were bleeding from punching the wall.

"Is it Clary? Is something wrong with her?" Jocelyn asked in concern.

"A friend of her just called me saying that she was in major trouble. We need to get her out of there. Now!" Jonathan panicked. He knew how Valentine was. He was afraid that he might of damaged Clary to the point of nonrecognition. Jocelyn's face changed from concern to a mask of determination.

"I promise you Jonathan, we will get her out of there soon. But stay strong and don't contact her. We need her to stay oblivious to everything, I know this is hard trust me I know." After all, Jocelyn was the one who knew the most about Valentine and his manipulative ways.

Jon sighed in frustration and walked passed Jocelyn and up the stairs he went. Jocelyn watched Jon leave her in the living room. She closed her eyes and prayed. Prayed that the lord would give Clary enough strength to last until Jocelyn would save her from Valentine's abusive ways.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello My Fellow Readers!**

**I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas (or whatever you celebrate)! I also hope that you ate a lot as well! Holiday food is always the best! I don****'t really have much to say but that I am extremely happy with the reviews that you guys have left! Thank you all for the love and support! And I am sorry that I am updating late! My mom has been sick and I've been helping her take care of the house and taking my siblings places where they need to go. Please read on and enjoy!  
**

**For this chapter, I used the song Your Guardian Angel by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.**

**Love,  
Lee **

* * *

{Clary}

Clary started to stir as the heat was getting a little unbearable. _Is it supposed to be this warm in heaven? _Clary thought to herself. Without opening her eyes, Clary started to roll away from the source of the heat but was caught off guard when she felt a strong arm pull her closer to a body.

With sudden realization, Clary realized that she wasn't dead and someone was with her. Her eyes snapped open as she took in her surroundings but soon she closed her eyes as the word around her started to spin. Clary inhaled and held her breath. She counted back from twenty and released her breath as she opened her eyes for a second time to see what was going on. She was thankful that the world around her wasn't spinning anymore.

Besides the masculine arm, Clary could feel a burning sensation on her arm from where she cut herself. She looked at her arm that she had damaged to see that it was bandaged up. _What the hell?  
_

As Clary tried to figure out what the hell happened, she had a mental sigh of relief, Clary was a little glad that she was in her room. _But how did I get into my bedroom and when did I put clothes on?_ She questioned. With a slight shake of her head, she stopped questioning as she peered down at the arm that was wrapped protectively around her waist and was surprised to see that she recognized the tattooed arm.

Clary turned her head so that she was facing the sleeping Jace next to her. Although she was confused as to why Jace was in her house, let alone in her bed- a small piece of her mentally smiled at the sight before her. Jace slept with his mouth slightly open and with that came soft snores. His blonde curly hair was tasseled from resting on the pillow.

As Clary analyzed the boy who laid next to her, she never realized how beautiful Jace was. He seemed to be carved from angels, that's how beautiful he was. Clary didn't see that from when both her and Jace met, she was caught up with her own flaws to see what was standing in front of her.

Jace must of felt that he was being starred at as he started to stir awake. When he awoke, Clary's eyes were met with his golden one's. For what felt like hours, emerald and gold peered into the depths of each other. It was a content silence as they both studied one another. Without even thinking about it, Jace brought the arm that rested on Clary's waits up to her face and he caressed her cheek. Clary responded by nuzzling into his palm, welcoming in his comfort.

"How are you doing?" Jace asked as he watched Clary nuzzle into his palm. It was a relief to see that Clary didn't kick him out her house when she woke up to him in her bed. He would of refused her if she would of asked him to leave anyways. He vowed that he wouldn't leave her side, he would be the one to help her.

Clary looked at him with confusion for a split second and then realization dawned. Confusion was replaced with shame as she looked away from him. Her eyes landed on the wall above him as she thought about the events that taken place only a few hours ago. She didn't realize how deep she had cut, she only cared about getting rid of the numbness.

"Jace, what happened?" Clary answered with a question. Jace stared at Clary for a few moments before he explained what happened to her. While Jace was explaining, Clary sat up from where she was laying and looked at the bandage that was on her wrist. Tears started to form in her eyes by the time Jace was done telling her about the drama that took place yesterday. When Jace saw that Clary was crying, he got up from where he was laying down an crawled across the bed to where Clary was sitting. He placed himself in front of her. He brought both of his hands to her face and rested them on her cheeks. He whipped away the tears that had escaped. Clary looked into Jace's golden orbs before she looked away from him. She couldn't stand the look of empathy that was mistaken for pity in his eyes.

"Clary, look at me," Jace whispered. Clary shook her head no, but Jace was persistent. "Please?"

Clary looked away from her purple comforter to look at Jace. When she saw his face there was no trace of pity, it was empathy. More tears started to fall as guilt became more profound within her. Clary couldn't stand herself. _I must look weak and pathetic in front of him. _She thought, _but then again, why do I care?_

A defensive wall started to break through the self-loathing as she pulled her face out of Jace's hands while she scooted away from him. Her back met the head board of her bed. She brought her knees to her chest and wrapper her arms around them. A flash of hurt crossed Jace's face before a neutral mask was replaced it. He let his hands drop into his lap as he stared at Clary.

"I don't know why you care so much," Clary stated after a few moments of silence. She glared at her knees as if they were the answer to all the worlds problems. This took Jace by surprise. He wasn't exactly sure himself but there he was, sitting in front of the broken girl that he cared for with no explanation as to why.

"I- I don't know, but I do." Jace replied. "I don't know why I have this direr need for you to open up to me. I want to be the person to help you Clary."

Clary looked away from her knees in shock. Her wide eyes peered at Jace, he seemed to scoot a little closer to her but he was being cautious. He approached her as if she was a scared animal. It was weird for Clary to hear that someone actually cared for her. Simon seemed to be the only one but then there was no one after he passed away. Jon disappeared with no trace of him or phone call. Although Jace did mention that he did call Jon and left a message. Clary knew that it was useless, Jon didn't seem to care about her anymore. He pretty much left her to fend for herself.

"Why?" Clary asked. Her throat started to swell as more tears started to form as she thought about Jon abandoning her. Jace looked at her as empathy washed through him. He saw how broken she was and that reminded him of himself when his parents passed away. He could only remember that his father was murdered and his mother was racked with grief and killed herself. He could remember how broken he was himself with the drinking and using girls. Yeah, he still did it but it wasn't as profound as it once was. But he couldn't imagine intentionally hurting himself. He wanted Clary to fight for her life and not to give up. That was the reason why he cared about her. It was because he wanted to see her win, to be the person that she was. To live life to the fullest and to over come her demons and he wanted to be apart of that. Jace wanted to be in her life.

"I want you to fight Clary. You have a life worth living for. It may not seem like it, but I promise you this, I will help you fight. Every step of the way, I will be there. I promise." Jace was now sitting in front of Clary, his thighs were touching her feet and his right hand was resting on her knee. Jace was thankful that she didn't cringe away.

Clary was stunned when she heard what Jace had to say. She felt like she was a huge baby as more tears started to replace the old ones. She didn't know what to say to him. It was quiet as she starred at the boy who sat in front of her. It was strange to see that the 'Bad boy' of her high school was sitting in front of her and then telling her that he would be her support. It was unexpected, but there was a small part of her that was thankful for him.

Jace couldn't stand the silence anymore as he looked at Clary look at him. "You don't have to tell me everything at once or at all. I just want to be there for you. I want you to call me if you have the urge to harm yourself again, can you do that? For me? Please?" He begged. He never begged but he didn't want to see her lose. Clary stared at him for a few moments and nodded her head. She knew that letting Jace into her messed up life would only bring both of them pain, but she was being selfish as she needed someone to lean on now that Simon was gone. Jace sighed in relief. Without thinking about it, Jace wrapped his arms around Clary's frail body and brought to his own. Clary body stiffened when her body made contact with his. She never hugged anyone nor did anyone hug her. It was foreign territory to her.

As Clary's body became accustomed to Jace's, she started to relax as she welcomed his sudden embrace. The tears that were falling mere seconds ago were drying out. She felt safe in Jace's embrace. _How can a person that I only just met make me feel this safe? _Clary thought. Jace was thinking the same thing as he rested his head against the red curls on top of her head. For once he felt complete with this beautiful broken girl within his arms. He lifted his head so that his lips made contact with the top of her head. Clary just snuggled deeper into his embrace as she felt his lips on her head. She closed her eyes as exhaustion became apparent to her body.

Jace could hear her breaths evening out so before she slipped into dreamland, he laid them back onto the bed. Clary curled her body into Jace's side as he wrapped his arms protectively around her waist. Her red hair fanned out behind her and Jace played with the red strands, loving every moment that his hands ran through her hair. Clary opened her eyes to peer into his golden orbs. She mentally thanked whoever was watching both her and Jace as she relished in the feeling of someone playing with her hair and not pulling it for once. Jace brought his lips to her ears as her eyes started to become droopy.

"I promise you Clary, I will fight for you. I will fight for your life along with you. Trust me, you do have a life worth living for."

With that, Clary smiled to herself as she fell asleep in the arms of a boy who believed in her.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello My Fellow Readers!**

**I just finished reading The Infernal Devices. Let me tell you, I fell in love all over again! I cried like a big baby, but that is nothing new. If you haven't read them yet, you better do so! I am trying to get my hands on the Bane Chronicles next! Anywho, I am so glad to see that I am getting positive reviews. I know this story seems to be dragging on a little bit, but I love longer stories. Is this story seeming to be a little slow or fast for you guys and would you like the chapter to be longer? I know that Valentine really isn't in the picture, but he will be in the following Chapters. I just needed a few chapters where it was just Jace and Clary (if that makes sense). I love it when my readers gives me feed back!**

**I loved how Jace told Clary that she had a life worth living for ;) I'm planning on making their relationship progress a little slow. I really do hope that what I am writing is making sense. **

**Thank you all for staying with this story! I love the support. :) **

**Here is another Chapter, I hope that you enjoy it -as always. Please leave a review and let me know what you think! Beware, it's long, so please enjoy!**

**The song that I used for this chapter is The Runaway by The Word Alive. I have been on a The Word Alive kick for the past few weeks. I think that my sister is getting sick of it! Haha.**

**I hope you enjoy it!**

**Love,**

**Lee**

( One Week Later)

It's been a week since the confrontation with Jace and things started to slowly fall back into place. Clary started to go to school again and tried to stay on the down low from Valentine. He decided to come home early from his convention. He told his colleagues that he was "worried" about his grieving daughter at home and that he wanted to check up on her. Of course everybody took pity and let him leave. Clary knew that he was lying. He wanted to be home so he could keep an eye on her. It was weird, since Simon told Officer Lightwood about the abuse, Valentine had ceased on the beatings knowing that he was being watched but he started to drink more. Clary didn't know how long it would be until he started beating her again for things that she didn't do.

Clary still wore the make shift wrap over her wrist to cover her knew that the cuts were healing as she attended to them every night before she went to bed. Although it was a week ago that Clary almost killed herself, it felt like it was a million years ago. She still had the urge to cut and she would. But they would be hidden on her thighs and they wouldn't be as deep. Since the day she cut to deep, Jace was around her more often. He would ask if she needed help carrying her books (Clary was pretty sure it was because of her stitches) or if she needed anything at all. Clary would politely refuse his help saying that she could handle herself but Jace would laugh and take her books anyways. It was nice to have the company but it was weird to have the entire student body stare at them and whisper things. Clary figured that there were rumors about her and Jace about being together but she didn't care. It wasn't as if she liked him or anything. Only as a friend. She knew that Jace knew that she was still cutting and would talk to her about it. She would only listen partially. She knew that he cared but she knew that he didn't really grief of losing Simon was still heavy on her shoulders. Although she would never tell anyone that she held the burden of having it being her fault for his death. Clary felt as if she was slowly going insane with all the guilt on the inside of her but she would appear as if nothing was going on on the outside.

When Clary returned to school her teachers told her that they understood and just gave her the assignments that she missed. The only teacher who had seen right through her was Luke Garroway. He knew that something was going on in Clary's home life but he didn't want to bring anything up because he was afraid that she may feel targeted. So when she came back to school, he was elated to see her. He had a soft spot for her. He greeted her when she walked through the door and only nodded his head as Jace when he followed behind her. He noted that Jace was caring Clary's books and he looked at Clary. He noticed at the sleeve of her long sleeved shirt that there was an edge of a white bandage sticking out. Curiosity spiked as he noted the bandage. As soon as the bell rung, Luke stood up from his desk, greeted his class and started his lesson.

Jace had placed his hand on the back of Clary's chair as Mr. Garroway started class. He knew that Clary was putting up a front but he didn't want to call her out on it. Since she started coming back to school and he knew that Valentine was back in town, he made sure to keep a sharp eye on Clary. He watched her as she vigorously scribbled down notes that Mr. Garroway was writing down on the chalk board.

The hour seemed speed by. The bell rung for the hour to be over. The students started to pack up their things and file out the door. Before Clary and Jace made it out the door, Mr. Garroway called out.

"Clary, could you please stay for a minute?" Clary hesitated, she looked at Jace who only shrugged his shoulders but his eyes shone encouragement. He leaned so that his lips were by her ears, "I will only be outside the door." And with that, Jace walked out of the room to stand by the door. Clary turned away from the door and walked over to Mr. Garroway's desk.

Luke smiled at Clary as she stood in front of him. She returned his smile with a small one. She had always liked Mr. Garroway. In around a bout way, she felt that he was more of a father than Valentine was.

"Clary, it's so nice to see that you have returned to school. How are you doing?" Mr. Garroway asked as he looked at Clary. He could see that in her green eyes that there was a storm of emotions but her face was a clean mask. _So much like her mother, _he thought to himself. Clary shrugged in response as she looked away his so that she was looking at anything besides him.

"I guess I'm okay." This seemed to unsettle Luke, he knew that something was up but he didn't want to provoke her.

"Well, if you ever need anything Clary, I am more than willing to talk.. I know what's it's like to lose a loved one. I mean it, it you need someone to _talk _to I am here." Mr. Garroway emphasized the word talk. Clary was confused as to why he was telling her this now. She understood that he may be concerned about how she was dealing with Simon's death, but there seemed to be a double meaning behind his statement.

Clary nodded her head and smiled at him. "Thank you Mr. Garroway, I will keep that in mind." Luke returned her smile and dismissed Clary with a wave of his hand. He watched as Clary walked out of his room as his smile started to slip off of his face. He watched as students of his next class filed into his room. Luke looked away from the door to fix his eyes that laid on his desk. He vastly studied the prep notes for his next lesson.

As promised, Jace was standing outside the door way of Mr. Garroway's room. He back was pressed up against the wall, he seemed to be lost in thought when Clary placed herself in front of him. Jace ripped his eyes away from studying the wall on the opposite side to look at the little red head that stood in front of him. A lot has changed for Jace in only a short amount of time. He was slowly but surely growing closer to Clary and he cherished her friendship. He seemed to calm down a little with trying to make sure that Clary didn't fall off the deep end again. He knew that it wasn't his responsibility to watch over another human being but he felt drawn to Clary. He always had and he couldn't quite understand as to why.

When their eyes locked onto each other, Jace could tell that Clary was troubled with something. He pushed himself off of the wall so that he was closer to her. He brought his free hand that wasn't holding both of their books to rest on her right shoulder.

"Hey, is everything okay?" He questioned. After a moment of hesitation, Clary replied.

"Kind of. It was weird. Mr. Garroway asked me if everything was okay and then he told me that if I needed to talk, that he was more than willing to listen. But there was a double meaning behind his words as if applying that he knew that something was going on besides me grieving over Simon's death." Before Jace said anything, he turned Clary around so that could make their way to their next class. The hand the rested on her shoulder moments ago was draped over both of her shoulders now so that he could talk to her in a lower voice so that the other students couldn't overhear their conversation.

"Maybe you should confined yourself to Mr. Garroway. He could.. Maybe help with the situat- What's wrong?" Before Jace could finish his thought, Clary had stopped in the middle of the hallway. Her emerald green eyes were piercing into him.

"No. I couldn't do that. If I get anyone else involved with my messed up life, I could get them killed as well." Clary whispered at the last part. "Valentine is ruthless."

"But if we had an adult - a trusted teacher- on our side, Clary we could get you out of there. You would be safe. You wouldn't have to fear going home." Jace was in front of her now.

"Then what Jace? I don't turn eighteen until the end of the summer so it's not like I can live on my own. I have no idea where my mother is and Jon refuses to answer my phone calls." Clary looked away from Jace so that she was looking at the tiled floor of the school. It killed Jace to see that Clary was loosing hope. He brought his band so that it was resting under her chin. He lifted her small delicate chin so that she was looking into his eyes again.

"Clary, remember I made that promise that I wouldn't let anything happen to you. I would make sure that you would have somewhere to stay... You could stay with me." The other students that walked by starred at the odd couple that was standing in the middle of the hallway. Most of them were starring wide at the school bad boy who was gently holding the chin of the art nerd of the school. But it seemed that Jace and Clary were in their own little world as they stared at each other.

Clary was the one to look away first. "We should probably get to our next class." As the trance was broken, Jace looked around to see that the hallway started to thin out of students. Before he could stop her, Clary grabbed her books from his grip and made her way down the hall. Jace stood where he was bewildered. With a shake of his head, Jace mumbled something under his breath that was incoherent and made his way to his class. He knew that he should probably go after Clary but he knew that she wanted to be alone. Jace mentally kicked himself for suggesting getting another person involved. He knew what Valentine was capable of doing but there was a part of him that Clary would get some professional help but there was a very small part of him that was being selfish as he was joyed that she would talk to him about her problems. He wanted to be the one that she confided in but he knew that he wasn't enough.

* * *

The rest of the first half of the day seemed to whiz past. Clary found herself in her last class before the bell would go off to signal for lunch. She dreaded going to lunch. She knew that she overreacted to Jace's suggestion. She was aware that he was trying to help her but she was afraid that if they ever put Valentine in his place, that she would only be alone. A small light of hope lit up when Jace suggested that she could live with him and then it was crushed by reality. She had a nagging feeling that he would only get sick of her like the other people in her life.

Clary's thoughts were rudely interrupted with the blaring noise of the bell signaling for lunch. The students that were surrounding her were now briskly making their way out of the classroom. Clary took her time with gathering her things and walking out of the classroom door. Clary let her hair curtain around her face to hide it. She merely made it ten feet out the door when someone grabbed her by the elbow. The touch was gentle so it didn't cause her to flinch away. Clary knew right away who it was without looking to see if she was correct. She kept on walking as if nothing was going on. Without much effort, Jace kept up with Clary's pace.

They were both silent as they made their way to the cafeteria. When they arrived, Clary immediately looked at the table where she used to sit with Simon. A feeling of loss and longing went through her body as she fought of tears. She composed her face so that it was indifferent- or which she hoped to be indifferent.

Jace saw Clary look at the table that she used to sit at. Jace gently grabbed Clary by the elbow and lead her to the table where Alec, Isabelle and himself sat. Clary didn't argue as they made their way to the table. She kept her eyes on the floor of the cafeteria.

When they reached the table, Isabelle and Alec were already there eating their lunch. Clary looked up from the floor to see the Lightwood siblings looking at her. Isabelle had a approachable smile on her face as Alec only gave her an icy stare. Jace moved his hand away from Clary's elbow to pull out a chair away from the table so that she could sit. With a quiet thanks, Clary sat herself down and stared at the table. The glare that she was receiving from Alec was making her feel uncomfortable and unwanted.

Jace was still standing behind Clary when he asked her if she wanted anything to eat. Clary shook her head.

"I'm not really hungry." Was all she said. Jace narrowed his eyes at her but didn't say anything else. He soon walked away from the table to stand in line first. It was a little awkward to with Alec and Isabelle as they both looked away from her to continue eating their food. Clary mentally sighed to herself as neither of the siblings tried to make conversation.

Within a few minutes, Jace was back with a tray full of food. He slid into the chair next to Clary so that he was sitting in-between her and Alec. He placed the tray in the middle and set a fork next to Clary. Clary looked from the fork to Jace and then back at the fork. Jace smiled at her confused expression and chuckled.

"It's quite a helpful utensil to eat with, but I'd rather use my fingers at times." He whispered into Clary's ear.

"I said that I wasn't hungry." Clary retorted as she looked away from the fork to look at him. She was met with his golden orbs fixed on her. Humor was dancing in his eyes. Clary narrowed her eyes so that she was glaring at him.

"And since when do I listen? Eat."

They both stared at each other for a few moments until Clary gave an exasperated sigh. She brought the fork to his tray and twirled it into the spaghetti. She brought the noodles and sauce to her mouth and ate it. Jace looked away from her with a smile on his face -knowing that he won- as he also dug into his food. Isabelle chuckled to herself at the odd coupling sitting across from her as Alec rolled his blues eyes in irritation.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello my Fellow Readers!**

**I know what you're all thinking, "Two updates in less than 24 hours?! What the hey?!" Haha, I have a lot of downtime on my hands right now and I thought that I would update. How did you like the last chapter? I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! I am currently re-reading TMI and every time that I re-read TMI I fall in love with the characters all over again. I'm exceptionally happy when I looked at my stuff for this story and to inform you all that I have 86 followers on this story! That is the most followers that I have ever had on a story that I have ever written! **

**Speaking of which, I have a question for you guys. After I have read the TID a story started to form in my head. I was thinking about writing about TID BUT it will be a spin off of Cinderella (in a way). It would be based off of the Disney version with a little twist with the Brother Grimm. What do you guys think? I would love to see what you guys would have to say!**

**Anyways, as always- I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter. I love you all and I thank every single one of you for sticking with this story and all of the support! You all make me so happy!**

**For this Chapter, I used the song Porcelain by Marianas Trench. Every time I listen to this song, it brings me to tears.**

**As always, R&amp;R and enjoy! :D**

**Love,**

**Lee**

A week had passed since Jace had Clary sit with him at his lunch table and it was slowly becoming a routine. As this slowly started to become the norm, it seemed that Clary and Jace's bond started to grow. If their was one, the other was soon to follow.

Clary loved being around Jace. He was a subtle distraction from what was going on in her life. The hole in her chest that was caused with grief was starting to shrink as their friendship started to turn into something beautiful. The other students stopped staring at the odd pairing and started to gossip about other things that didn't really matter.

Although both Clary and Jace were becoming closer, she still felt as if she was betraying Simon. She couldn't explain the feeling but there was a small sliver of guilt in her heart from being friends with Simon and then becoming friends with Jace. She knew that Simon hated the guy, but Jace was the person that she could count on since Simon was gone. She knew that she was being ridiculous, but that feeling never eased.

It was a Friday afternoon as both Clary and Jace were sitting in the school's library as they were studying for their finals. They still had four more weeks of schooling before they graduated. Clary was more than anxious to get the hell out Manhattan as soon as the diploma was handed to her. She was still in the midst of what College she wanted to go to. She applied to a handful of art schools from New York, California, Illinois, Minnesota and even one in London, England. For some reason, her heart was set on going to the one in Minnesota. It was far away from Valentine and anything that resembled her present and past. Valentine had no idea that she applied to any of the schools that she did. She hid her acceptance letters under her bed in a box. She knew that if he found out he would be furious with her.

Valentine didn't want her to go to school. He knew -without even telling him- that Jon had left for college. He became enraged when found out that Jon had left but didn't even bother looking for him. The day he found out, he accused of Clary knowing where he went when Clary really didn't. This caused him to become even more angered as he grabbed a fistful of Clary's hair and dragged her out of her room. He threw her into the wall that was across from her door and beaten her senseless and cussed at her for being a bitch and a filthy liar that evening.

Clary involuntarily cringed at the memory as she looked away from her Human Anatomy notes. It was quiet in the library as it was only her and Jace along with the Librarian who was sitting at her desk checking in last minute books that were returned that day. They sat in the back where they couldn't be seen, but they could see who came in and out. The silence was tranquil and relaxing. Clary looked away from the librarian to look at Jace. Jace was bent over his AP English final. He was working on a rough draft. Books and notes were spread around him as his eyes were peering at one of the opened textbooks and his left hand was furiously writing down what he was reading.

A small smile tugged at the corner of Clary's lips as she saw how concentrated he was. His eyebrows were furrowed and his blonde messy hair was covering his forehead. It was really a sight to marvel at. He was wearing a black v-neck t-shirt that clung to his beautifully sculpted body. His left arm was flexing as he moved the pen across the paper that he was writing on. Clary could see the tattoo's that adorned bot of his arms. The black ink twisted and curved into something that resembled tribal.

Clary remembered asking about them out of pure curiosity. She knew it was none of her business, but she wanted to know what they meant to him. Jace smiled at her question. They were walking from the school parking lot to the front of the school building. Jace would wait by his motorcycle until Clary would pull into the parking lot and then they would both walk into the school together.

He listed off the meanings of his tattoo's but only a few of them stood out to Clary.  
_Strength. Fearless. Agility. Protection. _She thought it was a little peculiar to have the symbols of those things to have on your body but she never questioned it. She accepted it as who he was.

"See something you like?" Jace implied without looking away from his rough draft. A smirk was playing at the corners of his lips. Clary flushed red as got caught for admiring him. She immediately looked away from him to rummage through her notes as if nothing happened. Jace chuckled softly as he tore his gaze from his homework to look at her. Jace admired they way the blush on her cheeks made her look more alive. The red color complemented her pale complexion along with her fiery red hair. The red curls that framed her small face were falling gently around her as they made their way past her shoulders. Her emerald like eyes were scanning her notes as she tried to forget about Jace's comment. As usual, she wore a long sleeved shirt to hide the inflicted and self mutilation that covered her body. But the shirt was same green as her eyes. The shirt was accompanied with a silver metallic scarf that seemed to make her glow as the sun shined on it. She wore a light blue carpi like jeans. The weather was getting warmer as the month of May approached them.

Jace has never met someone as beautiful as Clary. She seemed so small and fragile but one you got to know her, you saw her demeanor in a different light. Yes, she was broken but she was also the strongest person he had ever met. Jace returned his gaze to his rough draft when Clary caught him off guard with a question.

"Jace... Where do you plan on going to College?" Once again, Jace looked away from his studies to look at the beautiful girl that was sitting across from him. Not knowing, she was biting on her bottom lip, waiting for his answer. Before she asked him, she never heard him talk about it... At all. It made her wonder.

"I'm not sure yet." Jace replied. His mind drifted to the small stack of acceptance letters that sat on his desk.

"Well.. What do you want to be when you grow up?" Clary inquired. A smirk was apparent on her face. Jace returned her smirk with one of his own. Both of their studies were forgotten as they interrogated each other.

"I was thinking about being Superman. I already have one thing going and that's being extremely handsome now I just need a fake identity and a costume." Clary snorted as she covered her mouth with her hands as she muffled her laughs. Jace's smirk turned into a genuine smile. Her laugh was like music to his ears.

After she controlled her laughter, Clary pulled her hands away from her mouth where Jace was met with a small smile.

"Seriously though, what do you want to be?" She asked. Without missing a beat, Jace answered her.

"I'm thinking about following my biological father's footsteps and becoming a FBI agent of some sort." Clary wasn't really expecting that answer, but she didn't really know what to expect of him. He was full of surprises. "What about you?" He asked. Clary's playful expression formed into a shy mask. She hadn't really talked about this kind of thing with any one besides Simon.

"I don't know.. I was thinking about maybe becoming an Art Teacher or an Art Therapist. I'm not sure yet." She murmured. Jace was still smiling at her when she told thought they were both exceptional ideas for her.. Although he didn't know what an Art Therapist actually did.

"An Art Therapist is exactly what is sounds like," Clary stated as if she could hear Jace's thoughts, "but instead of talking to the their client, they have their client create art. When their client is done, the therapist studies the clients art work to determine what they are feeling or to interpret what is going on in their lives."

Jace had crossed his arms over his chest as he listened to Clary's explanation. He was impressed with the career that she was thinking about pursuing. "Where do you plan on furthering you education?" Jace questioned.

"I was thinking ab-," but before Clary could finish her response her phone started to buzz with an incoming call. She picked up her phone that was laying in the middle of the table along with Jace's. When she saw the caller ID, she instantly paled. Jace's relaxed composer became tense as Clary answered her phone.

"Clarissa Morgenstern, where the hell are you?" Valentine hissed through the other side.

"I'm at the school studying for finals." Clary spluttered. She searched the library with her eyes wandering the walls in search of a clock. It wasn't even five o'clock. It barely reached ten past four. _What the hell was he doing home so early?_ She thought to herself.

"I expected you to be home when school got out. Get your ass home now before I come there personally and drag you by your hair. You understand?" Before she could reply, he hung up.

Immediately, Clary started to pack up her things into her bag. Jace rose from his chair and looked at her in confusion.

"Clary what is it?"

"Valentine's home earlier than usual. He's pissed of that I'm not home." Clary hurriedly explained as she zipped up her bag and threw it over he left shoulder. When she was explaining, Jace also packed up his things in his bag and was now standing besides her. His hand was reaching out toward hers. She firmly grasped it. The panic that had a tight grip on hers lessened a little when Jace gripped her hand.

Clary tugged on his hand as she made her way out of the library and to the fron of the school. Although she was rushing, Jace kept up with her easily with the long stride of his legs. When they made their way out the doors of the school and headed to the parking lot, Jace still had a firm grip on her hand. Hatred for Valentine coursed through his veins as the thought of how upset Clary was.

When they reached her car, Jace pulled her into a tight, unexpected embrace. Clary stiffened a little and then wrapped her her small arms around his masculine core. Jace rested his head on top of hers, his lips resting on the top of her head. Comfort washed through her.

"You know you don't have to go. Come back to my house, you'll be safe there." Jace pleaded. Tears formed behind Clary's closed eyes. The offer he made sounded like heaven, but she knew that there would be repercussions if she did that.

"I can't. I promise, I'll call you when I can tonight." Clary whispered. She squeezed him before she let go to open her car door. She got in and flung her bag into the passenger seat followed by closing her door. She buckled up and turned her car on. Jace was still standing where he embraced her as she pulled out her parking space, heading to place that would be her down fall...

* * *

When Clary pulled into her drive way dread and panic was in full swing. She killed the engine and grabbed her bag. She saw the garage door open with Valentine's black SUV parked in it. Clary internally cringed when she made her way to the front door. Not even after a second of walking through the door, Valentine ascended on her. He slapped her right across the face. She could taste the blood in her mouth before she felt the sting of the slap. She staggered back into the door as she brought her right hand to the cheek that he had hit. Tears were started to sting the back of her eyes as Valentine got in her face. His black eyes were heated with rage, his body was tense. Clary couldn't smell the alcohol that usually accompanied the abuse. For some reason, she had a feeling that this was going to be worse than the beatings that she had received before hand.

He grabbed a fistful of her hair as he brought her body forward and slammed it on to the wall that was besides the door. Clary held in her cry of pain as her body made contact with the wall.

"You know I want you home right after school! How dare you disobey my rules?" Valentine spat in her face. Clary couldn't look him in the eyes as he still had a firm grip in her hair. "What? No answer? Are you really that stupid Clarissa?" Valentine then threw Clary's body to the floor where he then continued his abuse. Clary closed her eyes as she prayed for this all to end.

* * *

Hours later, Clary found herself laying in her bed in to much pain to do anything. She could feel the bruises forming all of her body. She had willed the tears away only a few hours ago. It was ten in the evening and Valentine hadn't returned. After he had his fill of beating on Clary, he walked out of the house muttering about how he wasn't coming home that he had enough of seeing her ugly face.

After he slammed the door behind him, Clary carefully picked herself off the the floor and limped up the stairs to her room to where she was now. She didn't bother getting out of her day clothes as she laid done. She was staring out the window into the night sky as she thought about a day where she would leave that hell hole. Her daydream was interrupted by the obnoxious buzzing of her phone was signaling an incoming call. She reached out to grab her phone and pain shout through her arm, she stifled a cry in pain when she accepted the call and brought it to her ear.

"Jace?" She whimpered.

"Clary? Are you okay?" He asked helplessly. Clary was pretty sure that she had ran out of tears earlier that night but she was wrong when she started to silently cry. It was silent for a few moments before she strangled out, "No."

Without any hesitation Jace replied. "I'm on my way." Before Clary could protest., Jace hung up. Clary pulled the phone away from her ear to look at her phone to see that the screen said **Call Ended.**With a sigh, Clary closed her eyes as she waited for Jace.

Sometime later, Clary felt her bed dip with the extra weight and arms tentatively wrapped around her. She could smell the familiar sent of Jace. Clary exhaled as he pressed her bruised body against Jace's as she welcomed his warmth and comfort.

"How did you get in?" Clary asked, already knowing the answer.

"The door was unlocked." When Valentine was so angry, he would slam the door and forget to lock it. "Clary, what happened?" Jace whispered into her ear. His breath tickled her neck. Tears started to pour as she told Jace about what happened when she got home. By the time she was finished, she was sobbing. Jace's grip tightened around her as he thought of the sick bastard harming her.

Jace whispered sweet nothings into Clary's ear until her sobs subsided and her breathing became even with sleep. While Jace held a sleeping Clary, he thought about ways of getting Clary out of the situation that she was in. Jace curled himself around Clary's small body. He held her close as he too started to drift off into sleep with the thoughts of Clary. His Clary and her escape. They both have gotten so far in such little time that he wanted to get her out there at any cost.

It sickened him to see Clary in so much. He knew that he needed to act fast in order to make her safe. He would do anything for the girl that he was slowly falling in love with. Plans for her escape swam through his head as sleep gripped him and brought him into the world of dreams were there was no abuse and it was only him and Clary taking on the world. A small smiled splayed across his face as he thought of a future that he could build for himself as Clary.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello My Fellow Readers!**

**Here is another Chapter! I am immensely happy that I am almost to 100 followers!**

** Thank you all so much especially the reviews! I love the support and idea's. Please keep them coming and tell me what you would like more of. :)**

**As always, I hope this chapter! R&amp;R**

**For this chapter I didn't have a specific song. Just more of a specific band and that was Silverstein, one of my all time favorites! Please enjoy!**

**Love,**

**Lee**

* * *

{Jon}

Jonathon was pacing back and forth in his room. His mind was thinking about a million different ways about getting Clary. How he could save her.. To protect her. Jon was also thinking about last week when Luke Garroway stopped by the apartment that Jocelyn was renting out in the middle of the city to report about Clary. Luke himself was determined to take Clary himself and get her out of there but Jocelyn was persistent that they should wait. She had claimed that she had a plan-which she didn't share with Luke or Jonathon.

Luke grew furious with Jocelyn which caused them to bicker. Jon grew irritated and impatient with the two of them. At that point retired to his room for the night where he would pace and think of alternatives. He knew that every moment that they wasted, is another day Clary would become more broken.

That night, when Jon was doing his usual pacing, he heard a soft knock on his door. Jon mumbled "Come in" and within a few seconds Jocelyn was standing in his doorway. Her red hair was pulled back. She was wearing her usual attire. Jeans accompanied with a t-shirt and boots. He could tell that this whole thing with Valentine being an abusive asshole and hurting her daughter was wearing Jocelyn down. Her once stressed free face that would always be in smiles and good natured looked as if age twenty years. She looked lost but determined. It was moments when she looked hopeless is where Jonathon would comfort his mother and tell her that good always won.

"Jon, is everything okay?" She asked with concern. Jon stopped his pacing to look at his mother. He stopped pacing so that he could look at her. Her question was serious and knowing this by only looking at her, he rolled his eyes and continued to pace with unease as he replied.

"You're kidding, right?" The sharpness of his tone shocked Jocelyn, "I'm not even going to answer that." Knowing the conversation that they both would have, Jon stopped his pacing only to grab his jacket that was on the back of his computer chair and made his way past his mother. He headed down the hallway that lead from his room to the living area of the apartment. Jon quickly glanced around the room to make sure that Luke had left. Jon let out a small sigh and continued his way to the entry way.

Without much of surprise, Jocelyn was right behind him. "Where do you think you're going?" They had reached the door of the apartment and Jon had his hand on the handle. Jocelyn had her hands on her hips as she narrowed her eyes at her son. It was almost uncanny how much Clary resembled their mother. She had every characteristic besides the height.

"For a walk." He replied as he opened the door and walked out, slamming it on his way down the stairs as his temper got the best of him. He had every right to be frustrated with the way things were going. No one was taking action to help his sister. AS he saw it, he needed to do it himself.

{Jace &amp; Clary}

The next morning, Clary stirred as she awoke to the body heat that was radiating off of Jace. She basked in his warmth as it soothed her aching muscles in her body.

"Good morning." Jace mumbled into Clary's hair. Clary's eyes were still closed when she gingerly turned her body -being careful so she wouldn't irritate her bruises- so that she was facing Jace. A small smile played against her lips.

"Good morning." Clary whispered as she snuggled herself into Jace's embrace. Jace watched as Clary made herself comfortable in his arms. A feeling of contentment washed through his body. There was no other place where would rather be.

With a cease of realization Clary sat up straight, panic coursing through her veins. "Is Valentine home?" Clary asked as she tried to make her way off the bed. Jace gently grabbed her wrist, making sure that he didn't hurt her. Although the stitches had decomposed and her cuts were merely red angry lines on her wrist, he still feared of hurting her.

"He's not here. I scoped out the house before you woke up." Jace said soothingly. Clary slowly laid back down as the panic slowly started to subside. She could only imagine the punishment if Valentine found Jace in her bed. She rested her head back on the pillow so that she was facing Jace. His hair was mess up from sleep and his t-shirt from yesterday had creases in it. His golden eyes were clear and his face was relaxed as he watched her study him.

"Thank you." Clary whispered as they both stared at each other. For a second, Jace was astonished. It took a few seconds to respond.

"Clary, why are you thanking me?" He asked while he brought his hand to the side of her head to tuck a stray hair behind her hair. Her red hair was wild from sleep. Jace smiled as he peered at the beautiful girl that was laying next to him. Although he could how tired and worn out that she was, Clary was the most beautiful girl that he has ever seen.

Clary sighed before she answered. She closed her eyes as she leaned her head into Jace's touch. "For being there for me. For helping me through my time of needs. You make the pain bearable... You make me safe. When I have my moments... You know, with my cutting,"- she squirmed a little as if it made her uncomfortable to talk about her coping mechanism -" I always think of you." She was sheepish to admit this to him. Even though they only knew each other for over a month almost becoming two, she felt as if she knew him her whole life. Her confession was something that Jace eas not expecting. He was floored when he heard this. He didn't know that he that much influence on her. Yeah, he always wanted to be there for her but he didn't know that she needed him as much as he need her in his life.

"I'd do anything for you Clary." Jace whispered. Clary's eyes snapped open as she looked at him. His golden eyes were sincere, his face was set. She could see that he was battling something in his head. She staid silent as she patiently waited for him to say what he had to say.

How could they go from talking about their futures yesterday afternoon in the library to having them laying in her bed after she was brutally beaten, confessing their thoughts to each other? It seemed that the universe had it's own way of dealing with the two teens who were both struggling trying to find solace in each other. Within a few moments, Jace was talking. With the words that flowed from his lips caused Clary to gasp as she starred doe eyed at the boy who laid across from her.

"Clary.. There is something about you that always drew me to you - there still is that pull even if I'm mere inches away from you. In the beginning it was a little unnerving. When I first moved here and I only saw you from afar, I was still captivated by you but there was something different about you. It's weird. All the other girls wanted my attention but you didn't. It made me curious but for some reason I didn't want to get into any of your business so I watched you from afar until that one fateful day when both you and Alec collided. I was embarrassed by the way Alec was carrying on about how you ran into him and the tears that were at bay in your eyes, I knew I had to get him out of there before I punched him for making you cry." He inhaled as he prepared himself for what he was about to say.

"Ever since that day I couldn't get you out of my head and God knows that I tried. I distracted myself with what I could but my mind would always stray back to you. I really like you Clary. I'm serious about doing anything for you, I would drop whatever I was doing to make sure that your well being was more than okay."

Clary looked away from Jace. The feelings that went through her was hope, fear, safe... And most of all, welcomed. But there was a small part of her that couldn't accept this information. A small voice in her head was whispering small seeds of doubt. _How could a guy like Jace like someone like you? You're broken, useless. You are nothing. That's why your brother left, why your mother doesn't want you... Why Valentine beats you._

Clary closed her eyes as tears started to form as her inner demons got the best of her. What if they were right? What if he was just toying with her for some sadistic joke?

"How could you like someone like me? Someone so broken?" Clary asked, speaking her thoughts. She started to pull away from Jace but he held on firmly to her.

"Clary.. Please, just stay." Clary stopped pulling away to look at Jace. His eyes were pleading as he had himself propped up on his elbow. It still shocked her that she had someone like Jace in her life. He was hard and mysterious on the outside and inside but when he opened up, he was a different person than he was letting on. Now that she was sitting up, she pulled her knees to her chest and wrapper her arms around her legs as she rested her head on her knees. She looked away from Jace to look at the wall opposite from her.

Jace sat up along with her but didn't make a move toward her, not wanting to make her any more uncomfortable. He swung his legs off of the bed so that his back was facing her. He placed his elbows on his knees while he held his head with his hands. It hurt him a little to see her shrink away from him when they were only making progress only moments before hand. Jace inhaled deeply before he started to talk.

"Clary... You're the strongest person that I know. You may not think so but I do. With all the shit that you have been through - still going through - you still go on with your day and for that, I admire you." It was different for him to confess his thoughts and feelings to someone. He always dealt with things on his own. Never wanting to talk to someone about it -especially Isabelle or Alec. But for some reason Clary brought the best out in him. It was both relieving and unsettling. _How can this one girl do this to me? _He thought.

After a few moments of trying to get over her insecurities, Clary crawled over to the side of the bed where Jace was sitting and sat herself next to him. Without thinking about it, she laid her head on his shoulder. Jace stiffened a little bit but then relaxed into her touch. He could feel the flow of electricity flow through them. Jace raised his head away from his hands and rested it on top of hers.

"I'm sorry." Clary whispered after a few moments of silence. "I'm not used to having people care for me other than.."_ Simon._ She thought. "My insecurities always get the best of me especially when I'm covered in bruises and scars..." She held her arms out in front of her as to make a point. She glared at the bruises that were forming and at the ones that were fading. Even at the silver glint to her scars made her feel shame. Never has she once felt shame in her self-mutilation until now as she sat on her bed with the boy who she was growing quit fond of.

Jace lifted his head to look at the beautiful red head that sat before him. "I will always care for you Clary."

Clary looked at him with hope and a little bit of despair. Jace placed his thumb under she chin as his finger rested under her bottom lip as he brought his face closer to hers."You're also very very beautiful." Before she could protest, Jace leaned even further until his lips collided with hers. Clary was shocked when Jace kissed her but none-the-less, she closed her eyes and kissed him back. Both of them melting into each other as they shared their first kiss.

Jace found himself closing the front door of Clary's house with a small smile on his face. He was more than thrilled that she had kissed him back. What must of felt like hours were only a few moments until Jace pulled away from Clary as he rested his forehead against hers. Both of them smiling from the euphoria of the kiss. They sat there in silence with their heads touching for a while until Clary broke the silence.

"You should probably get going before Valentine gets home. I don't want to get you in trouble."

Jace scoffed at this. " I could take him." Clary smiled at this as she opened her eyes to look at the golden boy who sat in front of her. Her emerald green eyes met his golden ones. He was smirking at her.

"As much as that sounds appealing to you, I don't want to lose you." She whispered. Feeling her concern Jace brought his hands up to her face so that they were resting on her cheeks.

"I promise you won't lose me." And with those words Jace kissed her again.

As Jace was thinking about kissing Clary and how much he wanted to do it all over again while making his way down the front steps, he heard a rustle in the bushes that were in front of the house under the kitchen window. Jace's nerves went on high alert he crept over to the bush. Not thinking twice, he plucked his hands into the shrubbery and pulled out a male that was about the same size as him.

There was a lot of cussing and swearing as Jace pulled him out of the bushes and flung the trespasser onto the ground, pinning them there while pressing his forearm into his windpipe. Shock ran through him when he saw emerald green eyes that resembled Clary glare up at him. Along with the green eyes, the boy had strikingly white hair that triggered something as recognition in Jace's mind but he couldn't connect the dots.

"Who the hell are you and what makes you think playing peeping tom is okay?" Jace spat into the boys face.

The boy struggled to answer as Jace never let up the pressure on his throat and as to think of it, Jace withheld some pressure so the boy could speak.

"I'm Jonathon and who the hell are you?" The boy spat back.

Shock coursed through Jace's body as he swore to himself that one of these days he was going to die of cardiac arrest as he peered down at Clary's brother.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello My Fellow Readers!**  
**I am sorry that I have not updated in forever! There has been so many things that have been going on in such a short amount of time. I started this chapter while I was sitting in the airport in San Antonio, Texas with my boyfriends parents waiting to board the plane back to Wisconsin. Over that weekend I saw my boyfriend graduate from the Air Force basic training and I couldn't be any more proud! Now he is in Mississippi for his technical training and he'll be home in a short three weeks! I miss him dearly but it's nice that I get to Skype him almost every other day when he's not in classes or doing study group. I probably won't update next week either because it is mid-semester assessments... Lame.**

**I am extremely happy with the reviews that you guys have left with the last chapter! I now have a 104 followers! Thank you all for the support and sticking with this story! It makes me so happy and loved! Thank you all again! I hope that you all enjoy this next chapter as I have enjoyed writing this one!**

**For this chapter, I listened to the song Life Cycles by The Word Alive**

**Love,**

**Lee**

* * *

Without thinking twice, Jace brought his arm back and brought it back to Jonathon's face with an enormous amount of force. He could feel Jonathon's nose break beneath his knuckles with a sickening crack. Blood started to poor from Jon's nose as he brought he hands to his face. He yelled in pain and started to cuss at Jace.

"What the fuck was that for?" Jon bellowed as he cupped his nose with his hands. Blood soon covered his hands as it continued to flow heavily. A small boost of pride sang in Jace's veins as watched the blood flow as he regretted nothing. Jace never did answer Jonathon's questions as he made his way off of the other boy. He stood up on his feet as he peered down at the red mess of the pale white boy who sat up and gingerly pinched the bridge of his broken nose.

Jace didn't know what exactly came over him when he punched Jonathon but it brought him an immense amount of pleasure. A small smile played across his lips as Jonathon moaned in pain. After the satisfaction of punching Jonathon a small voice in the back of Jace's mind was nagging at him for punching Clary's brother and that he needed to get him away from the house as soon as possible. But before he could act upon his thoughts he spoke his mind before he could stop himself.

"What are you doing here?"

With both hands still covering his bleeding nose, Jonathon glared at the boy who stood in front of him. "Why do you care and what are you doing at my house?" He exclaimed, his voice was muffled by the barriers of his hands.

"The last time that I checked you left this pace leaving Clary to defend herself." Jace spat. He gritted his teeth together, trying hard to not punch Jonathon in the face again. His satisfaction was slowly leaving his body as it was being refueled with anger that was quickly turning into rage. He started to clench and un-clench hands. He narrowed his eyes as he glared at the boy who was sitting across from him on the ground.

Jonathon was glaring back. He could feel the blood from his nose lessen as it started to dry up. He wasn't really expecting to be punched in the face when he reached the house but he really wasn't expecting another boy at the house either. He knew right away who the other boy was but he didn't know how close he was to Clary. Something about that bothered Jonathon as he did a once over at Jace. He took in the messy abundance of golden hair that was accompanied with golden eyes. Then he took in the rest of him. He was tall but not as tall as himself. He was also broad and semi muscular. Jace's stance was stoic as he glared down at the boy.

Jonathon was little hurt with the remark that Jace had made about leaving Clary to defend herself. In retrospect, he did leave her alone with their psychotic father but it really wasn't his fault that he couldn't make contact with Clary. Jocelyn was so hell bent to keep everything a secret from Clary, to keep her in the dark so Valentine wouldn't find anything suspicious. Jonathon thought it was wrong to leave her in the dark but never questioned his mother's tactics until the day before.

Guilt was eating away at Jonathon as he pulled his bloodied hands away from his face. He looked away from the glaring eyes of Jace as he studied the grass below him.

"She's the reason why I cam back.." Jonathon whispered after a few moments of silence. Thoughts of telling Jace what was going on with his fucked up family was wagging war in his brain. He wasn't completely sure that he could trust the other boy...

Jace scoffed at Jonathon. "You can't be serious can you?" He snarled. "You left her here with a monster and you're telling me the reason why you are back is for her? Why didn't you take her in the first place? Away from all the suffering?"

Jonathon was still looking at the ground and started to pull at the grass in agitation. "Well the original reason why I left was for college. If Valentine had his way I wouldn't have left. But he didn't care about me at all... For some sick reason, he only thought about Clary and her resemblance to our mother."

"Clary and I both thought that our mother didn't want anything to do with us after the divorce was finalized. Little did we know that Valentine put a restraining order on her until we both turned eighteen. So I was surprised when she approached me when I was moving into my dorm. I saw her from the corner of my eye and at first I thought it was Clary. I was about to scold her for following me but when I realized it wasn't Clary and it was our mother I froze." Jonathon whispered. He wasn't exactly sure as to why he was explaining everything to Jace but he felt hopeless after the rage had ceased. He knew that he probably deserved the punch in the face for just leaving Clary just like that. So he continued his story.

"After the shock, I was angry with our mother and I said a few things that would put a sailor to shame. She didn't say much as I told her what I thought. I didn't realize how angry I was at Valentine for everything that he put Clary and I until I saw our mother. After I was done, she walked up to me and hugged me. She whispered how sorry that she was and that she didn't mean for anything to happen to use like that."

Jace was quiet the whole time as he listened to Jonathon tell his sob story. All that he knew was that he left Clary and hadn't contacted her at all and now he just comes back for her. It didn't make sense in his head.

"That's also the same day that our mother told us everything about what went down between her and Valentine. Needless to say, Valentine started to change when he got a new job offering and he started to become less involved in our lives. Our mother got fed up, she was tired of being the only one being at home with us, having the no support. She was lonely and with Valenitne's mood swings she couldn't take it anymore. She would go to Luke Garroway, her best friend to lean on and one thing led to another and she cheated on Valentine with Luke."

Jace blanched at this totally caught off guard by the statement. _Mr. Garroway? Slept with Clary's mom? Jesus._ Jace thought to himself.

Jonathon took Jace's silence as for him to continue. "So when Valentine found out, he filed a divorce. He got custody of my sister and I and moved away. In that time when our mother wasn't allowed to see us, she was keeping track of us. As soon as I hit my eighteenth birthday she was waiting for the right time to approach me. To tell me the plan of when we were taking Clary away from Val-."

"What do you mean 'take her away'?" Jace interrupted. As much as the idea of getting Clary away from Valentine, he didn't want her away from him.

Jonathon looked away from the grass to look at Jace. Jonathon could see determination written all over his face he could also see how much that Jace cared for Clary.

Jonathon sighed and carried on with his thought process. "My mother's plan is to take her as soon as she graduates. She knows that legally she wouldn't be eighteen but she needs to get out of the house."

To an extent, Jace knew that this was the best idea for Clary but he didn't want to be away from Clary. Although that they knew each other for a short period amount of time, Jace felt like he couldn't go a day with out her. He was quiet for a few seconds as he pondered over the new information that he absorbed.

Without thinking about what he was doing, Jace reached out his hand with palm facing up, offering his assistance to Jonathon. Jonathon flinched away from his hand while glaring at it, expecting Jace to hit him again. Jace smiled a little but silently waited for Jonathon to accept his offering.

"If I accept your help how do I know you won't punch me in the face again?" Jonathon questioned. Jace merely shrugged with a smirk on his face.

"Guess you'll have to find out." He responded. Jonathon continued to stare at his palm for a few more second before he placed his hand in Jace's. Jace hoisted Jonathon to his feet and then swiftly let go. He stood across from the boy who he had punch only mere twenty minutes before hand. But to him it seemed like a lifetime ago. It was quiet between the two boys as they looked at each other. He was was surprised that Clary didn't come out to see what was causing so much noise.

"I suppose you're not going to let me see Clary are you?" Jonathon asked. He knew the answer to it without even having to ask but he only hoped that her was wrong.

"No, I'm not but I have a feeling that you and I need to figure things out." Jace said smoothly. He wanted to help Clary as much as possible even if that meant teaming up with her brother. Jonathon looked confused at her first but then realizing what he meant only nodded his head. _If Clary trusts him, then I'll trust him._ He thought to himself.

"Well then, where do we start?" Jonathon asked.

"For starters, let's get out of here before your sister figures out that there are people standing in the front yard. We can go get something to eat. C'mon." Jace motioned for Jonathon to follow him as he made his way off of Clary's front yard and toward town. Jonathon looked at the back of Jace's head and then back to the house that he lived in.. The place where Clary was imprisoned. He closed his eyes and sighed, silently praying that everything will some how work itself out. Jonathon opened his eyes and then started to follow the boy who would help him rescue his sister from the monster that they claimed as their father.


	15. Author's Note

**Hello my lovely****'****s!**

**I am so sorry that I haven't updated in a very long time. I have moved in back with my Mom this summer, since it's summer vacation. I have also have a new job. I am a waitress. I've been working roughly forty hours a week and no time to write! I luckily have a little time before I have to go in later today. **

**I also haven't been writing because I lost two family members within the same week about a week ago. My great grandmother and great uncle passed away, so it's been a little hard on my family. **

**I promise that I have not forgotten about my readers! I have been feeling terrible for not posting in a while. I've been reading the story and lulling some things over. I think I may have to rewrite what I have so far. I feel like I wasn't planning this story out very well. I just want this to be something that gives you, as my readers, to mull over. I feel like I'm just going in a big circle with this story and I just need to sit down and make sure I have some sort of outline. So basically it's a writer's block but not really (if that makes sense.)**

**I'm really sorry about this! But if any of you have suggestions, please let me know. Whenever I have a chance to sit down, I will hash out my ideas/outline. I promise I'm not leaving this story where it is at! I have way to many idea's on how I want this to go. **

**Thank you all for sticking around!**

**Love, **

**Lee.**

**P.S. Please let me know if you have any suggestions on what you would like to see happen! **


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